The people of Gelegele Community in Ovia North-East local government area of Edo State have appealed to Governor Monday Okpebholo to see to the realisation of the planned Gelegele seaport.
The community pointed out the need to see to the conclusion of the project formally kick-started by the Godwin Obaseki led administration after decades of conceptualising the idea.
It noted that the immediate past administration of Obaseki has committed huge resources into the project for it to be abandoned at this stage.
Chairman, Gelegele Executive Council, Mr Omaghomi Olu-Derimon, stated this in Benin. He said Obaseki’s administration did a lot to see to the realisation of the project.
“The project has undergone various stages such as soil testing, environmental impact assessment, geological survey of the area, and among others.
“The seaport is a landmark project for several reasons and the first is that the promoters of this project are targeting about 1 million, Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) container capacity annually, which they expect to grow to about 2.7 million and 4.5 million TEUs due to his proximity to Lekki deep sea port when the project operations commences.
“With this fit, Gelegele river port will become one of the largest deep water ports in our region and serve as a hub for port operations in the whole of the Southern region.
“There is no question at all that the project will be the sort of project that the promoters have said that it will be, and with all of the plans that they have for developing it, we expect that it will be the busiest Agro shipping port in Africa.
“It is expected that the project construction, once completed, will influence the generation of up to about 10,000 direct and indirect new jobs in the Edo economy,” he stated.
Olu-Derimon commended Okpebholo for hitting the ground running since assumption of office on November 12, 2024, and for continuing the execution of some projects initiated by Obaseki.
“Our appeal is that Okpebholo should also see to the conclusion, continuation of the development of Gelegele seaport because of its numerous benefits to the country, state, and the Gelegele community.
According to him, “the potential economic benefits of completing the project include boosting local economic growth, job creation, and enhancement of trade opportunities.
“This is not to exclude the project’s history and potential impact and importance to the development of the region. The community desires to see the project’s conclusion.”
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