Ahead the expected surge in passengers traffic as the yuletide season draws near, the Lagos office of the National Inland Waterways Authority ( Niwa) has flagged off extensive clearance of water hyacinth on Lagos water channels in order to ease transportation activities and aid safety of waterways users.
The ongoing project officials of the agency disclosed will cover the critical Lagos channels with high traffic of boat movements, starting with Omu creeks and Ikorodu water channels.
Already, Omu creeks have been cleared while the Ikorodu channels will take at least a week of intense clearance activities, including waste removal and disposal of the troublesome sea weeds, an official statement indicated.
Confirming the development, NIWA Lagos Area Manager, engineer Sarat Braimah affirmed that the effort is part of the agency’s key operational responsibilities and mandate to ensure smooth and safe sailing by boat operators and other stakeholders preparatory to the yuletide season when traffic on the waterway is expected to be high.
“We want to do what is right as we approach the Xmas holiday season with expected increase in boat transport activities. Incidentally, the season also heralds the return of water hyacinth around our waterways in Lagos, so the best is to proactively clear them even though the weeds have the capacity to rebound, but we are ready to sustain a safe passage for boats operations during and even after the yuletide” she explained.
On the same operational focus in other parts of lagos, the Area Manager stated that the project will be extended to Badagry and Apapa water channels, noting that the Ikorodu water channel is most critical for now as the weeds births its way to other parts of Lagos littoral communities from this location.
She said “We are working round the clock to ensure this effort is sustained during this period and also the deployment of our river marshals to help keep eyes on boating operations during this period.
It’s an expensive project and very demanding, but we are equal to the task as our staff are out there daily to ensure we deliver, ” Sarah said further.
