The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos Ferry Service (Lag Ferry), Hon. Paul Kalejaiye has assured the private boat operators in Lagos state that contrary to media report, the agency was not out to send them parking from the Lagos waters.
Speaking at a forum organized in Lagos recently by Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) Kalejaiye described the news as incorrect and lacking foundation.
According to him,”I can tell from the research we have conducted in our office, we have established 30 routes as we speak today, that is exclusive of other farther axis.
“It means that before you can operate on all of the routes, you must have a minimum of 30 ferries and what Lagos state government is trying to do is to ensure that hitherto, Lag Ferry used to have boats but when this government came in, government on its own took a stock on our activities, evaluated the existing ferries and found them not to be water worthy and therefore ordered a dispense of those unserviceable ferries. It is about physician heal thyself.
“Government is healing itself to say we will not allow ourselves as government to put on our waters rickety,unserviceable ferries and government therefore ordered the procurement of new ferries, modern ferries that are of world class, ferries that will have all the modern gadgets. We are talking about security on waters.
“Lagos is moving away from a mega city to a smart city, that is our future and that is where we are going. So, let no operator have any fear, we, Lagos require well over a thousand boats to operate on our waters and I say this with all authority because the future of Lagos is to be the Florida of Nigeria. It is to ensure that people can use water as the easiest means of transportation and decongest the road”.
While acknowledging that the state was not there yet as it was just emerging in terms of exploiting and exploring the benefits of water that surround it, he reassured that no operator would be deprived or that was proposed to be deprived either now or in the future from operating .
He pointed out that what LASWA and other regulatory agencies would do was to continue to carry out their regulatory functions with a view to ensuring that the boats they operate met minimum standard, operate under safe environment and that their conduct was such that would also enhance safety.
He recalled that at a meeting with the Ministry of Waterfronts and Infrastructure, the Commissioner assured the operators that all their demands in terms of collaboration between them and LASWA, the regulatory agency and other agencies of government that would make their operations on the waterways easier, affordable would be met.
“In other words, government is willing to listen to some of your complains particularly about fees payable so that nobody drives you away but nobody must be deceived into believing that everything that is cheap is the best.
“Lag Ferry is going to operate like an operator, Lag Ferry is also going to be subjected to the rules and regulations established by LASWA and other safety agencies. We are just a competitor with you as operators, we are not out to scrap you off, we are cooperators”, he explained.
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