Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, has assured Lagosians that the government is committed to ensuring safety, efficient and effective water transportation in the state.
Obasa gave this assurance while speaking at a one day stakeholders’ meeting organised by the ad-hoc committee set up by the Assembly to investigate causes of incessant boat mishaps in the state and proffer solutions. The event took place at the Lateef Jakande Auditorium in the Assembly complex, Alausa, Ikeja.
The Speaker stated that lawmakers were worried at the several cases of boat mishaps in the state which led to loses of several human lives.
Obasa stated that it was as a result of the concern the Assembly had over such unfortunate incidents that led to the invitation of the state Commissioner for Transport, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Transport and the General Manager of the State Waterways Authority to appear before the lawmakers on February 16 for clarification on how to check incessant boat mishaps in the state.
“I made it known at that sitting that a stakeholders’ meeting will be convened to deliberate on how to put a stop to incessant boat mishaps in the state and that is why we are here today,” he said.
According to him, the lawmakers and the state government could not fold their arms and allow things to degenerate, hence the decision to address the issue.
“We are indeed concerned with the irreparable losses incurred by the families of the various victims of the boat mishaps. Our hearts go out to them and I pray that such incident will not repeat itself in Lagos anymore.
“On our part, we remain committed to ensuring that we don’t lose precious lives to boat mishaps in the state again, hence the decision to convene this meeting which we hope will proffer solutions to our efforts at putting in place safe, effective and efficient water transport in the state,” the speaker said.
