Maritime
Inland waterways: LASWA increases capacity to shore up safety
Inland waterways: LASWA increases capacity to shore up safety
In its intentional efforts to drive investment, shore-up safety and increase ridership on the waterways, the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) in the last two years, has increased the number of its Water Guard personnel from 48 to 108.
The increase in workforce according to the General Manager of LASWA, Mr. Damilola Emmanuel in a chat with our correspondent last week, is to be able to cover the the nooks and corners of the state inland waterways having discovered that some activities were still going on in some areas without adherence to safety regulations of the inland waterways.
The increase in workforce which he said had led to improved safety, has also boosted the confidence of waterways users
Emmanuel added that the Lagos State Waterways agency improved on its search and rescue unit which has been monitoring the stretch of Lagos inland waterways on a daily basis
He noted that the routine monitoring has significantly reduced accidents on the waterways.
“We have been able to increase the number of our workforce to be able to cover the nooks and crannies of inland waterways in Lagos state because we found out that a lot of activities were still going on in certain areas and they were not adhering to safety measures of the inland waterways.
“So, we increased our water Guards number from 48 to 108 and we carried out training for them as well to ensure that they can meet up with international best practices of what a water Guards rules and regulations should be on the waterways
“The manpower was increased towards end of 20202 and early 2021. But we had the plan all the while but we just did it and within two years now, we have seen the growth.
Cartoon Strip Ad 2
“We improved on our search and rescue unit because people want to feel confident, they want to know that in case of any emergency, we can respond quicker.
“We now have an emergency and rescue team which goes out almost everyday to monitor activities on the waterways and be able to respond to any emergency and that has greatly improved the confidence of those who are currently using the waterways but we still want to see what we can do to pull in those who are not using the waterways.”
