The Nationwide Inland Waterways Authority ((NIWA) has begun an intensive clearance of water hyacinth throughout Lagos waterways, beginning with the Ipakodo jetty in Ikorodu, the place thick clusters of the weed have disrupted transport and channel navigation.
Throughout a monitoring go to to the terminal, it was noticed that water hyacinth had overrun the world, obstructing the motion of passenger and cargo boats.
To deal with the issue, the Lagos Space Workplace of NIWA deployed heavy-duty equipment, together with a “Swamp Satan,” designed to chop via dense vegetation, clear navigation channels and restore protected passage for ferries and cargo vessels.
The Lagos Space Supervisor of NIWA, Sarat Braimah, instructed journalists that the clearance train was a important security intervention, not a routine clean-up.
In accordance with her, the water hyacinth, a fast-spreading aquatic weed native to the Amazon Basin in South America, entered Nigerian waters via ballast water discharged from ships within the Eighties. It reappears seasonally from July to December, choking waterways, obstructing boat visitors, and affecting fisheries and native livelihoods.
“This effort is about security. If we permit boats to navigate via this invasive weed, their engines will probably be broken, and water customers will face critical dangers,” Braimah mentioned.
She defined that the clearance operation was a part of a Federal Authorities intervention to make sure protected navigation and maintain inland water transport, in addition to to help boat operators and commuters who depend on the waterways every day.
Braimah famous that the train would prolong past Lagos to Bayelsa, the Niger Delta, and different NIWA space places of work because the company tracks the weed’s motion via river currents.
“We’re monitoring the stream. Because the weed strikes, our groups transfer with it,” she mentioned. Whereas the monetary elements of the operation are being managed by NIWA headquarters, Braimah hinted at ongoing analysis and partnerships geared toward turning the problem into an financial alternative. She recalled a coaching programme in Wisconsin, USA, the place water hyacinth was discovered to have potential to be used within the manufacturing of luggage, furnishings, and natural merchandise.
“Analysis is ongoing to ascertain a centre that may assist us convert this menace into helpful merchandise,” she mentioned, including that NIWA and the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) had been collaborating to make sure complete clearance. Regardless of the recurring nature of the weed, Braimah assured that NIWA’s proactive response this 12 months would minimise disruptions.
“We might not utterly eradicate it, however we’re decided to sort out it every time it seems,” she mentioned.
