A House of Representatives Member-elect from Lagos State, Mr Mufutau Egberongbe, has called for the enhancement of Inland water transportation in Lagos State, to improve the movement of goods and people.
Egberongbe, who also reiterated the call for a special status for the state, said the population of Lagos was increasing by the day, which requires an effective intra-city transport system and an intervention fund, to make life easy for residents.
TBI Africa said the Reps Member-elect and former Lagos State House of Assembly Member, spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of an event in Lagos on Tuesday.
“We are not making effective use of our natural endowments to make life ease for our people, as a large proportion of the state is linked by water, but it is not being adequately harnessed for transportation.
“Look at the mess in Apapa that seems to have defied all measures for years now. Can we not take cargoes from the Apapa ports with barges to other parts of the state for their owners to pick up, instead of the chaotic situation that has affected transportation in the entire metropolis?
“It is expected that both the Federal and Lagos State Governments should collaborate and evolve a workable solution to the crisis.
“A large chunk of the populace can be ferried daily to their places of work through the inland waterways, if it is improved upon with modern facilities and proper channelling,’’ he said.
Egberongbe also called for a special Mega City status for Lagos by the Federal Government, to assist the state government to resolve the social crisis from the population explosion in the metropolis.
He lamented the state of infrastructural decay from some of the structures abandoned by the movement of the Federal Capital to Abuja and urged the incoming 9thNational Assembly to ensure that the state was given a fair consideration during its tenure.
