Lagos to Invest More in Water Transportation

The Lagos State Government has disclosed it is working to boost water transportation by creating safer, more efficient, and sustainable strategies which are at various stages of implementation.

A statement on Sunday noted that the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Oluwaseun Osiyemi, stated this during a tour of the Lagos State Waterways Monitoring and Data Management Centre Control Room, established by the Lagos State Waterways Authority.

The commissioner explained that various strategies were to be implemented by the state government to make water transportation a viable and reliable option for Lagosians.

Waterways Transportation: Lagos Lawmakers Seek Private Investors

“Explaining the functions of the WMDMC control room, the General Manager of LASWA, Damilola Emmanuel, stated that the control room was set up to manage movement on the Inland Waterways.

“To further assess real-time safety measures on the waterways, the tour entourage, which included the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transportation, Olawale Musa; LASWA boat operators, and Caverton Marine representatives, embarked on a boat ride in one of the Caverton locally-made boats to Badore Ferry Terminal to inspect the boat yard where the construction of the ferries are taking place,” the statement said.

Musa, while on the 35-minute boat ride to Badore, hinted that the state government found it more economical patronising the local boat builders to build its boats, which could not be compared to the higher cost of purchasing the same from outside the country.

At the boat yard, the Chief Executive Officer, Caverton Offshore, Olabode Makanjuola, explained that the boats were built in line with international standards, saying about 15 newly built boats would soon be launched and put into use in the inland waterways.