14th June, 2019
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Thursday unveiled a purpose built Warehouse and Showroom where operators in the water transportation business can purchase their brand new spare parts for their jetties and boats rather than importing them from abroad.
The warehouse was built by Multimodal Transport Technologies Limited, an integrated transport solutions provider catering for land and marine transport needs of various multifaceted companies in Nigeria.
Speaking at the unveiling at the Boat Club, B20 Wole Olateju Cresent, Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria, Sanwo-Olu said the facility was the first of its kind in West Africa and only next to South Africa which had such warehouse where operators in the water transportation business could readily purchase parts for their jetties and boats.
The governor, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Lagos Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Taiwo Salaam, said operators in the water transportation system could come to the Boat Club, housing the warehouse to purchase parts for their jetties and boats, as the company had all latest parts in town.
He said the warehouse would also offer maintenance services for jetty and boat operators in the state’s waterways, adding that the facility would help boost water transportation in the state, which he said, was still at the lowest ebb, with only two percent of the 22 million residents of Lagos commuting through the waterways.
“With this facility, our waterway transportation will be boosted. They also build jetties here, they should help us to build more. This facility will enhance safety on our waterway.
“We are keeping our waterways clean, we have boats and we have to service them. This is the first in West Africa and boat operators don’t need to import parts again as they can get them here,” he said.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Multimodal Transport Technologies Limited, Kayode Olowu said the company is a one-stop marine logistic firm which catered for leisure and commercial boat owners whenever they have issues in the waterways.
“If you have issues, tow your boat here, we have the parts to make your boat work. This is our own type of encouragement to complement what the Lagos State Government is doing. We are in partnership with Yamaha and we have inclusiveness here. This is the first time in Nigeria that you have everything to cater for water transportation in one place.
“If you want to build a boat from the scratch, you can do it here. Our services are cheaper because we deal directly with the manufacturers,” he said.
He, however, appealed to the state government to provide the enabling environment to make their business thrive in terms of granting rebate on taxes paid.
Managing Director, Lagos State Waterways Agency, LASWA, Oluwadamilola Emmanuel, said the facility would certainly help to improve water transportation in the state.
He disclosed that currently, about 1.5 million passengers commute on the state’s waterways monthly, but noted that this depended on the weather condition.