Boat Mishaps: Culpable Boat Operators To Face Charges…Why We Recruited Additional 270 Water Marshals- NIWA MD
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA, Mr Bola Oyebamiji has warned boat operators in the country against undermining the safety measures and standards put in place by the agency to guarantee the protection of lives and property on the nation’s waterways.
Oyebamiji has also declared total clampdown on noncompliance with the safety standards by defaulting boat operators saying erring operators particularly those who make night trips, engage in overloading among other anomalies would face charges.
A statement made available to Team@orientactualmags.com noted that Oyebamiji , who said this while talking to journalists in Lagos during the weekend, condemned the insolence attitude of boat operators on the nation’s waterways which have caused avoidable incidents while disclosing that water marshals have been increased from 80 to 350 in order to tackle and address boat mishaps in the country.
To further deepen the safety measures on the waterways, Oyebamiji added that NIWA will prevail on the presidency through the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy to abolish the use of wooden boats which according to him causes boat mishaps .
The NIWA boss, who also talked about comprehensive short, medium and long term measures to halt future accidents on Nigeria’s waterways, said the enforcement of the recently gazetted Water Transportation Code is part of the ongoing massive and radical reforms on the nation’s waterways.
Most of the accidents, he noted, are human errors caused by flagrant disregard for safety rules and guidelines such as the ban on night travel, wearing of life jackets and other elementary safety measures by the boat operators.
Oyebamiji emphasized that there won’t be any sacred cow whatsoever in the implementation of the holistic approach employed by the agency noting that henceforth, strict compliance with the water transportation code will be enforced as part of efforts to further secure the nation’s waterways against unruly conducts.
‘The twin issues of safety and insecurity on the inland waterways always overshadow every gain recorded by NIWA whenever it happens and to confront this headlong, we have reconsidered our safety campaign approach to focus more on the grassroots using community resources.
Within one year, NIWA has carried out more grassroots safety campaigns than ever before and we have deployed water marshals across different loading and offloading points in the country to further enhance the safety standards and as well strengthen our safety rules and regulations for the benefit of both operators and other waterways users.
It may interest you to know that within three months of its launch, we have increased the number of our water marshals from 80 to 350 and recently, these officers were directed to commence 24-hour surveillance within selected locations to arrest the ugly incident of night travel and overloading.
As you can see, we are irrevocably committed to nipping in the bud the incessant boat mishaps on our waterways and this informed the recent stakeholder meeting held in Abuja to evaluate the current challenges on inland waterways transportation and find permanent solutions.
The meeting which had in attendance the Honourable Commissioners of Transportation from more than 24 states, among other groups, highlighted several important measures that must be taken to arrest the twin issues of safety and insecurity on the inland waterways.
So, we are irreversibly committed to safeguarding our waterways no matter whose ox is gored and i am using this medium to appeal to all the waterways’ users to comply and adhere strictly to the safety tips as laid down by NIWA. We will continue to implement the safety rules and guidelines and whoever is found culpable will be constitutionally dealt with’ Oyebamiji added.
Speaking on the readiness of NIWA to collaborate with both local and international agencies so as to foster safe and secure waterways, Oyebamiji disclosed that the agency enjoys strong and robust partnership with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) on the issue of removal of water hyacinths and shipwrecks on the waterways.
Oyebamiji also disclosed the readiness of NIWA to outsource the removal of water hyacinths in order to free government funds from such a venture adding that the agency through the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, has opened a discussion with the Ministry of Transportation in Spain for the purpose of importing Spanish technology to monitor Nigeria’s waterways-Team@orientactualmags.com Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com. Thank you.
