The governor of Lagos state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, over the weekend, disclosed that about 14 million Lagosians commute through the state inland waterway yearly.
The governor disclosed this while inaugurating a first-of-its-kind Waterways Monitoring and Data Management Centre that would enhance activities on the state waterways.
Inaugurating the facility at Falomo, Lagos, Sanwo-Olu said, the establishment of the centre would give access to real-time information, and gather data for continuous improvement of the inland waterways.
He said, it further demonstrated his commitment to the Greater Lagos project, especially in the Traffic Management and Transportation pillar of the T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda.
To him, “over the past three years, daily commuter ridership has increased to 43,000 passengers and over 14 million passengers yearly.
“There is also a visible reduction in boat mishaps achieved through our massive intervention in safety equipment and donations of free lifejackets across the 15 LGAs accessible by water.
“Our gathering here today is to further deepen our commitment to the safety of the waterways with the commissioning of a newly established Search and Rescue Unit responsible.
”The unit is established for patrolling and enforcing our waterways rules and regulation.
“So, two additional patrol boats and safety enhancement gadgets such as a D.J.I. Ariel drone, BlueEye Pro drone for underwater searches, and U-SAFE (rescuing gadget).”
The governor said, one of the key objectives of this pillar was the adoption of the multimodal transport system which basically aimed at developing the water and rail modes of transportation.
He said the adoption of the multimodal transport strategy was to reduce traffic congestion on the roads.
Sanwo-olu commended the foreign partnerships with the British Government through Future Cities Nigeria and the French Government through the French Developmental Agency.
The governor noted that, in the last three and half years, his administration had invested massively in waterways infrastructure and assets to promote water transportation in the state.
He pointed out that the state’s efforts had led to the increase in passenger ridership, improved safety standards and private sector participation.
Sanwo-Olu noted that, these were all acquired and established to consolidate efforts in making the waterways safer for all users.
He said, the state also demonstrated its unparalleled commitment to providing a viable alternative transport solution that would complement other modes: rail and road transport systems.
Earlier, the general manager, LASWA, Mr Damilola Emmanuel, said the centre consists of a command control, vessel tracking system, radio and video communication network and tidalguage monitoring system.
“This center enables the state to have an intelligent vessel monitoring and management system that allows LASWA to continuously track, monitor, and manage all marine traffic operating along the Lagos state inland waterways.
“The W.M.D.M.C. has a Multi-sensor, multi-layer continuous surveillance with fully integrated fusion. It can detect and track any vessel of any size and type.
“It can identify all boats, automatically monitor vessel activities, and see and alert illegal and suspicious behaviour,” he said.
The commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde, said, the centre gave full fledged Search and Rescue Unit and Safety Enhancement Gadgets for ariel and underwater search and rescue.
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