The gubernatorial 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.
Sanwo-Olu 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.
He 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 added 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.
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“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,” he said.
“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.”
The governorship candidate encouraged Lagosians to change their orientation about the way they use the road. He lamented some behaviours that aides the traffic congestion, which citizens should drop in the interest of everybody.
On the issue of 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.
Speaking on the education sector, he promised to improve 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.
According to him, the N1tn budget size of the state was too small compared to the quantum of infrastructure and services to be rendered.
He, however, assured Lagosians that his administration would not over-burden the people with tax, even though the state would try to attract more people to the tax net.