By
Fawaz Adebisi
The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has launched modern monitoring gadgets and infrastructure to enhance security across the State’s waterways transportation network.
At the Five Cowrie Terminal, the home of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) in Falomo, Ikoyi, the Governor, on Friday officially opened the recently constructed Waterways Monitoring and Data Management Centre (WMDMC).
The Data Management Centre is a centralized monitoring hub for all activity on the Lagos canal and the first of its type in the nation. With the use of technology, LASWA is now able to produce real-time statistics, increase safety, and compile information for ongoing inland waterway improvement.
The Governor also presented the BlueEye Pro drone for underwater search and rescue operations and the sophisticated DJI Aerial Drone for surface monitoring. He distributed automatic U-SAFE rescuing devices for use in emergency evacuation.
At the occasion, which was well-attended by private operators, Sanwo-Olu officially launched the LASWA Search and Rescue Unit (SAR), which will be in charge of patrolling and enforcing the State’s waterways laws.
According to the governor, the initiative further exemplified his administration’s dedication to enhancing mobility through a multimodal transportation system and providing residents with accessible transit options.
Sanwo-Olu emphasized that waterways transportation had received special attention in the last three years due to the need to connect it with the current rail and road transportation networks. He maintained that traffic management and transportation remained a crucial part of his government’s economic development plan.
He said: “In the last three and half years, our administration has invested massively in waterways infrastructure and assets to deliberately encourage and promote water transportation in Lagos. Our gathering today is to further deepen our commitment to have a safe and secure ferry operation on our waterways. We are commissioning a big command and control centre specifically established to monitor and protect our waterways.
“We are inaugurating the newly created Search and Rescue Unit that will be patrolling and enforcing our waterways rules and regulation. We are handing over two additional patrol boats and safety enhancements. We are also launching advanced D.J.I. Aerial Drone, BlueEye Pro drone for underwater searches, and U-SAFE rescuing gadgets.
“These gadgets are acquired and installed to consolidate our efforts in making our waterways safer for its users and making monitoring activities seamless. It also demonstrates our unparalleled commitment to providing a viable alternative transport solution that will complement other modes. This is the investment we will continue to make, in addition to building additional jetties. In the coming weeks, we will be commissioning eight newly built jetties out of the 15 we are currently building.”
He therefore claimed that Lagos had not only acted as a competent regulator in the waterways transportation industry, but also as the State’s main ferry operator across established routes to increase passenger demand and make the form of transportation financially feasible for investors.
The Lagos State Ferry Services (LAGFERRY), which has more than 20 high- and medium-capacity boats in its fleet, reported that since it began conducting commercial operations in February 2020 without a single accident, it has transported more than 1.1 million passengers.
Every person traveling on a LAGFERRY boat is given life insurance coverage for the duration of the trip.
Sanwo-Olu said: “We have invested so much in LASWA that today, we are beginning to see the effects. Over the past three years, daily commuter ridership has increased to 43,000 passengers and over 1.4 million passengers yearly. There has also been a visible reduction in boat mishaps achieved through our massive intervention in safety equipment and donations of free lifejackets across the 15 Local Government Areas accessible by water.”
Dr. Frederic Oladehinde, the commissioner for transportation, said the installed technology was put in place to address financial problems caused by mobility delays and boost the dependability of water transportation.
According to him, a study has shown that transportation by waterways remained the safest as long as the essential safety precautions were taken. He urged Lagosians to use the waterways to increase mobility and relieve traffic congestion on the roads.
The command center’s establishment, according to LASWA General Manager Damilola Emmanuel, will enable the regulatory organization to have intelligent vessel tracking and monitoring along operating routes. Digitizing the inland waterways operations.
He said: “This is another milestone delivered through the administration’s T.H.E.M.E.S. agenda. The WMDMC has a multi-sensor, multi-layer continuous surveillance with fully integrated fusion. It can detect and track any vessel of any size. It can identify all boats, automatically monitor vessel activities and send alerts on any illegal or suspicious behaviour.
“The centre can generate digitised information files available on any vessel containing the entire history, ownership, and licensing. It is equipped with an integrated and automated system integrated with alerts to enable efficient operator handling of events. It also allows field operators to check and verify vessel identities and pass to external parties.”
The Data Management Center’s creator, Prince Yomi Sopitan, who is also the Executive Assistant to the Governor on Maritime Matters, claimed that the innovation had improved the State’s ability to monitor its waterways and allayed concerns about safety.
According to Sopitan, Sanwo-Olu was the first governor to execute a thorough investigation, survey, and marking of the State’s inland waterways, which helped to remove obstructions on the established pathways.
“Prior to installation of advanced technology gadgets, private boat operators in Lagos used to record an average of 19 water accidents yearly. The State recorded only two major water accidents in the year, testifying to improvements we have achieved in the last two years,” Sopitan said.
