By Monsuru Olowoopejo

THE Lagos State Government has said that it requires over N370 billion ($2 Billion) in five years to meet the sewage need of the state.

At an unveiling ceremony of the Lagos State Development Plan, LSDP, Governor Babatunde Fashola had disclosed that the plan would afford government and residents the opportunity to know where energies could be directed towards the improvement of the state, even as he stated that the government spent N2.4 billion to boost water and road transportation in the state.

In the 13-year plan document, made available to Vanguard, it x-rayed the current challenges in the cosmopolitan state and how they will be addressed.

It also revealed that a larger percent of residents in the state do not have proper sanitation, as most residents resort to usage of septic tanks, which leads to water pollution.

According to the document, about 1.4 billion litres of water used in Lagos daily ends up as waste water, adding that this poses a major threat to the state.

The plan further revealed that aside upgrading the existing Waste Water Treatment Plants at Abesan in Ipaja; Oke-Afa in Isolo; Iponri in Surulere; Alausa in Ikeja and Amuwo-Odofin, 5, 250 kilometres of sewers need to be laid.

The document stated: “The state will also need about 60, 000 sewage trucks to ply the roads six times daily to transport the sewage treatment plant, and 10 Waste Water Treatment Plants must be constructed within the five years period.”

Fashola however revealed that the state government had commenced the construction of the Odo-Iya Alaro Waste Water Treatment Plant in Ojota axis of the state.

Water modes of transportation

The document revealed that in 2015, the state government Gross Domestic Product, GDP targeted was N4.6 trillion, due to the investments made lately on both land and water modes of transportations.

A breakdown of the money
showed that N1.469 billion was spent to construct and rehabilitate long abandoned jetties in the state.

According to the document, some of the jetties that were constructed were at Oke-Afa, LASU and Ijegun. Also, N89 million was spent on clearing of waterways and dredging of navigable routes on the water ways.

Speaking further, the
governor at the ceremony stated that the investment in water transportation sector has improved the connectivity and the monthly ridership in the state.

He said “Today, the ridership on water transportation is in excess of 1.5 million. And this was against 150, 000 passengers recorded monthly in 2007 at the inception of the current administration,” adding that “N895 million was spent by the government to fully equip the officers of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA.”