The Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) says data from its Waterways Monitoring and Data Management Center has enabled it to make informed decisions to enhance water transport.
The General Manager of LASWA, Mr Oluwadamilola Emmanuel, gave the assurance in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Emmanuel said that the centre established in 2022 became effective in 2023 and had resulted in reduction of incidents involving LASWA boats and jetties.
“This is the age of using technology to improve services.
“This is why we set up, the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa, an inland waterway monitoring and data management centre.
“What we hope to achieve with this is monitoring real-time, all of our jetties and terminals and the waterways generally.
“We cannot be everywhere at every point in time, but through technology, we can monitor what is happening on waterways.
“At the same time we will gather useful data that will help us to make informed decisions in the development of water transportation in Lagos state,” he said.
He told NAN that the jetties were being monitored to ensure standards – boat captains leaving at the appropriate time, usage of life jackets and others.
Emmanuel said that the authority started with four locations at the pilot stage but had introduced six more locations where cameras were deployed for the monitoring.
“We will deploy communication devices to 10/12 boats for now; this is to communicate with them real-time. This is the standard, and it is to test, real-time, our communications back and forth when people are out on the waters,” he said.
The LASWA boss said that the cameras could see up to 2.6km from jetties.
He added that when the cameras were off the radar, the authority would use its patrol teams to monitor the waterways.
“The patrol team compliments the waterways data management centre.
“It makes us more efficient and effective because instead of going round monitoring the entire waterways, from the control room, we can even direct the patrol team to locations that need assistance,” he said.
