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Fashola Wants to FG to Dredge Inland Waterways

Thursday, 13 December 2007

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State has called on the federal government to partner with the littoral states in ensuring that our inland waterways are dredged, channelised and wreckages cleared.

Fashola who said this while declaring open the National Council on Transportation hosted by Lagos State, noted that the state need to tap the great potential of the inland waterways “if we are to have an efficient and affordable integrated transportation system in the country”.

The governor said his administration's 10-point agenda and Laseeds document are compliant with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) so much so that government's emphasis on transportation is poverty solvent.

He also said that Lagos, as a littoral state, with adequate presence of rail, and road connectivity has an integrated Mass Transit Programme through the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA).

"We are strengthening our traffic management mechanism, execution of the first state run rail services, a light rail that would ensure a massive movement of people and goods. These are complemented by a stimulation of Private Sector Investments in Inland Waterways especially in Ferry operations and infrastructural development", the Governor said.

He stressed that his administration's focus on transportation is dictated by its importance as a catalyst for national development through the movement of goods and people for commercial, leisure and private needs. "The essence of human\vehicular movement is need-determined and destination-driven and in Lagos State, such movement is anchored on a mission, with clear vision and concerted action. We are on the fast track towards a functional inter-modal transport system befitting a mega city".

The Governor said government recently carried out a Transport Impact Assessment Analysis which has reinforced its belief that Transportation serves as the engine of growth while other aspects of our social, political and economic life take cue as coaches. Consequently, he said government has focused on massive road construction and rehabilitation, opened up new areas, all to ensure that man hours are saved by commuters while transacting official, personal and commercial business.

In her address, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, the Minister of Transportation who was represented at the occasion by Prince John Emeka Okechukwu, the Minister of State for Water Resources, said President Umaru Yar'Adua's administration has embarked on transport sector reform to re-position the economy and as part of its reform agenda, the federal government merged the former Ministries of Works, Transport and Aviation for the purpose of introducing effective and efficient inter-modal coordination in the policy and planning functions of all modes of transportation.

"We are presently faced with the stark reality of inter-modal imbalance, given the country's over dependence on the road mode, to the detriment of other modes of transport. It is expected that all this integration will provide inter-modalism for the attainment of an improved service delivery. By so doing, each mode of transport would complement one another thereby reducing the pressure on one mode" She said.

According to her the inland water transport is also faced with problems of aquatic weeds, insufficient drafts for navigation, insecurity, inadequate infrastructure (jetties, river ports dockyard, patrol boats, siltation) etc.

Source:v http://www.lagosstate.gov.ng

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