The Managing Director of National Inland Waterways Agency, Senator Olorunnibe Mamora, has urged the Lagos State Government to invest more in water transportation in order to harness its diverse opportunities.
He also called for collaboration between the Federal Government and the state government to exploit the huge economic opportunities of the state’s coastlines.
Mamora, who is a former Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, said these in Lagos at the 4th lecture series of Lagos Traffic Radio.
The NIWA boss, while speaking on ‘Lagos beyond roads: The intermodal transport option’, said that a large percentage of the state was water, stressing that the government should use it to solve the problem of road congestion.
He said some nations constructed canals to enable them to transport goods and persons on water, noting that a state like Lagos which had natural water and could assist its transportation should harness the opportunities therein.
According to him, the cost of road construction is exorbitant. Mamora said despite that wrecks and water hyacinths had to be removed to make the waterways navigable, it was still cheaper to move goods and people on water.
He said, “There is a compelling need to harness opportunities in water transpiration in Lagos State. We need to take advantage of the water in the state. We have the ocean, lagoon, lakes, creeks and canals. Large goods are better transported on water and we can’t rely absolutely on road. “There are 200 water transport terminals in Lagos State and we can take advantage of the opportunities in water transportation to solve the problem of road congestion.”
He said so much money was being lost on a daily basis to traffic congestion in the state.
He added that time was being lost in gridlocks just as Lagosians had developed stress-related diseases because of hours wasted on the roads.
The NIWA boss said a lot of work was being done to make water transportation much safer, saying night travel had been banned for a long time.
Mamora, however, said some boat operators travelled even up to 11.30pm to evade sanctions.Punch
