Waterways transport users on Tuesday lamented over the high cost of commuting on the Lagos inland waterways, stating that many now go by road for long-distance trips to avoid paying high waterways transportation cost.

Boat operators also bemoaned the drop in number of waterways transportation passengers, blaming the high cost of commuting on high cost of sourcing for petrol and spare parts.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune exclusively, a cross section of commuters aboard a passenger boat heading to Apapa from the Marina jetty at CMS lamented that many had stopped using waterways to commute due to the very high cost of transportation.

“Most of us only use the Apapa to CMS ferry due to the short distance and timeliness. Even that service has gone up from N500 to N700 and now N1,000.

“Many still pay for water transportation to and from Apapa and CMS due to the unpredictable nature of traffic on the Marine bridge in Apapa. But for long-distance trips like CMS to Badagry or CMS to Ikorodu, most passengers now prefer road transport due to the heavy cost of transportation on the waterways.

“To go to Badagry from CMS by boat will cost you N10,000. If your destination is Port Novo, you will pay N12,000 to use waterways transportation. When you compare that to road transport cost, what the ferry operators are charging is simply outrageous.

“The same thing applies to CMS to Ikorodu. Many people now go by road for long-distance trips due to the high cost of transportation through the inland waterways,” passenger said.

When contacted, the chairman of the Lagos chapter of the Association of Tourist Boat Operators and Water Transporters of Nigeria (ATBOWATON), Comrade Saheed Lawal, attributed the high cost of waterways transportation to difficulty in sourcing for petrol and high cost of spare parts.

He said, “The high cost of petrol is the number one reason why waterways transportation is very high. There is only one fueling point on the Lagos State waterways, and it is in Falomo at the headquarters of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA).

“When you consider that to go and fuel at Falomo from our base at CMS will cost you about 10 litres of petrol, as an operator, you will reconsider the option and prefer to go and get petrol with kegs at filling stations nearby in Marina.

“But when you get to these petrol stations, and they see you carrying very big kegs, they will slam additional cost on your fuel purchase. The fuel attendant will tell you that they don’t sell into kegs except vehicles, but if you must buy, your price will be different.

“When you add all this together, plus the difficulty in sourcing for boat spare parts, how else will you make profit if you don’t hike your fees?” (Nigerian Tribune)