The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has promised to find an enduring solution to the perennial traffic jam in the state with the creation of alternatives to road transport system.
The governorship candidate
said he had identified about 60 points where traffic was usually heavy
in the state, adding that his administration planned to adopt integrated
transport system as well as direct traffic to the free lanes during
rush hours.
Sanwo-Olu, who said this in an interview with UHURU
TIMES, a Lagos-based publication, promised to complete the rail track
currently under construction and invest in water transportation in order
to reduce the number of people travelling by road on a daily basis.
The
APC candidate stated that waterways that required dredging would be
attended to so that boats could travel fast, adding that the complaint
of low returns by boat operators would be looked into.
He said,
“Our focus is beyond just road travels within the state. We are thinking
about an integrated transportation system befitting of a megacity state
like Lagos. One third of Lagos is water and that suggests that we have a
huge water transportation opportunity and alternative. The waterways
need to be properly mapped out to help navigation.
“We also have
the rail project that we need to complete, especially the Blueline from
Okokomaiko to CMS. We need to complete the track. It is about funding
and we will find a way of completing that rail project. Lagos needs a
transportation system outside the road; a transportation system that can
move thousands of people daily.”
He urged Lagosians to change
their orientation about the way they use the road, saying some
behaviours, aiding to the traffic congestion, should be dropped in the
interest of everybody.
Speaking on waste management, Sanwo-Olu
said waste problem would be better tackled if individuals could start to
sort their waste and stop mixing organic waste with plastics and
bottles.
He promised to make better the over 1,300 public primary
schools in the state and improve on the infrastructure in the primary,
secondary and tertiary institutions owned by the state government
because of the importance of education.
He believed the about
N1tn budget size of the state was too small compared to the quantum of
infrastructure and services to be rendered.
The APC governorship
standard bearer, however, explained that if elected, his administration
would not over-burden the people with tax but would be creative in
managing the state’s resources.
Sanwo-Olu added that more people would be attracted into the tax net.
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