The Lagos State government has stated it would be prioritising investment in critical infrastructure this year with a new vigour.
The governor of the state, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in a statement yesterday from his Chief Press Secretary, Gboyega Akosile, said his administration would renew its focus on waterways and rail transportation in the current year.
The objective, Sanwo-olu explained, was to disperse traffic on the roads and give commuters a new choice in mass movement across the state.
The governor said that with the signing of the state’s N1.168 trillion 2020 budget into law last Tuesday, his administration had been statutorily emboldened to fully tap into the potential of its waterways and rail corridors by pursuing fresh investment and partnerships that would help the government deliver an inter-modal transportation model.
He said, “Lagos is endowed with a large body of water that has been under-exploited over the years. This is why we have challenged ourselves to invest in channel. Work will begin to happen on our waterways and the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) has been saddled with this responsibility.
“In terms of the pace of work going on our Blue Line Rail project, which stretches from Okokomaiko to Marina, we expect the work to pick up and get Phase 1 of it completed for operations. Also, construction work will commence on the Red Line that will stretch from Agege to Ebute Meta, this year.”
Sanwo-Olu disclosed that the Lagos State Public Works (LSPW) had been complementing his administration’s infrastructural renewal programme with persistent rehabilitation works on existing roads to ease flow of traffic on feeder roads. The repair work, he stressed, would continue across the state.
The governor also said the state had doubled its budgetary allocation to healthcare purposely to boost human capital and productivity, adding that the government would be building more tertiary healthcare facilities in underserved areas across the state.
This, he said, would make quality healthcare accessible and affordable for residents irrespective of income level.
Sanwo-Olu promised that as the year progresses, more development programmes would be unveiled across the pillars of his administration’s agenda that would directly touch the lives of residents, and pleaded for the support and cooperation of the people.
