Sanwo-Olu promises water transportation will get lots of attention

The Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said the water transportation sector will receive lots of attention from his administration.

Speaking yesterday at the 4th Lagos Traffic Radio lecture series with the theme ‘Lagos beyond road: the intermodal transport option’, Sanwo-Olu, represented by the Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, said within the last few weeks, he has had promising discussions with various groups of investors who have expressed their intention to invest in the transport sector, especially the water transport sub-sector.

He noted that the water transport sector is grossly under-utilised in terms of harnessing its economic potentials. “The current traffic situation indicates that 95 percent of transportation is done by road in our state of over 22 million people with about 25 percent of the landmass consisting of waterways.

“The essence, therefore, is to reduce the number of cars on the road and provide alternative options which are rail and waterways transportation, which will be efficient and safe for Lagosians and those that choose to visit our state.”

He stated that the state government has long identified the need for intermodal transport to resolve traffic gridlock that was why the blue line was initiated and BRT lanes constructed.

The guest speaker, former Governor of Lagos, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, delivering his lecture, disclosed that his administration paid and took delivery of a 1,200-capacity coach, which was part of the infrastructure of the Blue Line Rail Project initiated by his administration.

Fashola appealed to the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to prioritize the completion of the Blue Line Rail Project as a major relief to the traffic congestion problem.

Fashola also advised the state government to immediately focus on intensive rehabilitation of roads in what he called ‘the central spine’ network of roads in order to mitigate the traffic gridlock being experienced in almost every part of the metropolis.