Against the backdrop of recent boat mishaps on the Lagos inland waterway, the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), on Wednesday, raised the alarm that only 25 percent of passengers boats on the Lagos inland waterways are seaworthy.
LEADERSHIP reports that two boat mishaps have happened on Lagos waterways in the last one week and the accidents have claimed several lives.
Speaking to journalists on techniques put in place to forestall future boat mishap, the NIWA area manager, Lagos, Engr. Sarat Braimah, said the authority would begin clampdown on substandard boats plying the waterways.
According to Braimah, 75 per cent of substandard passenger boats will be banned, seized and stopped from operating on the Lagos inland waterway, saying NIWA has reeled out preventive measures for boat operators to meet or forget about operating on the waterways.
“What NIWA wants to do now is to sanitise the industry. We cannot wait until another accident happens and from these two major accidents that happened this year, we analysed our investigations and discovered that it was due to human errors. What do I mean by human error?, the accident was down to the poor maintenance of these craft.
“Most times, boat engines go off mid-stream because the speed the boat captains need, they can’t get it on the channel. So, to get the speed, they will move out of the channel to a shallow area so that they can maintain speed. As I speak to you, our Marine Unit is now in Ikorodu and the office has embargoed boat movement in Ikorodu except those certified. Yesterday, we certified 10 boats, and only those 10 boats will be the ones to operate for now. For other boats, we have instructed them to bring them down to our office here in Marina. We are not even going to Ikorodu to do the inspection.”
She, however, stated that most boats operating do not meet the standard set out for operation.
“Most of these boats are single hulls and single hull boats cannot withstand stress. Any single hit on the waterways, they will tumble. For instance, if they hit a little pipe unexpectedly, they lose control and turn their passengers inside the water. I have been inside a boat where we hit a wreck, the boat did not capsize because it has a double hull.”
“Majorly, we have to scrap these boats. 75 per cent of them are not seaworthy. Their maintenance has dropped and their life span too has dropped. So, we want to know if there are 20 boats that are fit to operate from Ikorodu, Ibeshe jetty, let it be so. If it is 20 in Ebute, let it be so,” she asserted
She also stated that all boat operators must employ a life guard on their boat and they must also ensure that speedometers are functional due to over speeding of boat drivers.
“Going forward, we have introduced mandatory checklists for boat operators that include every boat having a speedometer. This will allow passengers to know whether the pilot is speeding or not. Secondly, every passenger boat must have life buoys on the boat. If there is an incident mid-stream, they will throw life buoys around for people to hold for safety. Four people can hold one. If you have three on a boat, that will save 12 people.
“Passengers have life jackets, but they do put it off immediately they get inside the boat and at least, if that lifebuoy is there and they throw it out, they will hold on to it to stay afloat. So it is the best way to save people on water. And finally, every passenger boat must have a Lifeguard who can swim in case of an accident. Lifeguards are divers, they can jump inside water and save people. It will be the first response before boats will get there,” she stated.
