Seventy-five percent of the vessels that use the Lagos Waterways are not seaworthy, according to the National Inland Waterways Authority.
According to The PUNCH, NIWA’s Lagos Area Manager, Sarat Braimah, revealed this to the media on Wednesday at a meeting with representatives of the Lagos-based Association of Tourist Boats Operators and Water Transport.
Three verified drowning deaths were reported following the capsize of a boat carrying fourteen people in Lagos State’s Ibeshe-Ikorodu canal.
Additionally, it was discovered on Tuesday by the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency that 11 people had been rescued from the accident, which happened on Monday at 7:17 p.m., and that two dead had been found.
Boat upkeep has decreased, Braimah continued.
“Seventy-five percent of the boats on the canals in Lagos are unfit for sea use. We registered them when they first purchased them, but since then, both their lifespan and upkeep have decreased. We thus desire a method that, let it be so even if there are only twenty boats that are fit to operate.”
According to Braimah, the organization wished to sterilize the boats in order to guarantee that mishaps are avoided.
“We were able to evaluate the results of our investigations into these two significant incidents that occurred this year and found that they were all the result of human error.
“When I refer to human mistake, I mean boat upkeep, since occasionally the engines will die while the boats are in motion. They would move out of the canal to obtain the speed their boats require since they can’t achieve it on the channel,” she said.
Only ten boats have received certification from NIWA Lagos Area Manager to operate off of Ikorodu Jetty thus far.
“On Tuesday, we certified just ten boats, and they would be the ones in service for the time being. We’ve told them to bring it here for inspection for all other vessels.” she explained
But because double-hall engines could tolerate greater stress than single-hall engines, they were advised, she claimed.
The National President of ATBOWTAN, Tarzan Balogun, had earlier emphasized the need of the government helping them buy a boat through hire purchase.
“The group is asking NIWA, the government agency, to assist us in obtaining these boats. The boats need to be purchased by the government and given to us as repayment.
“The lowest boat costs around N8 million. A decent yacht will cost us around N50 million. We can buy the motors elsewhere; let the boats be made in Nigeria. The government ought to assist them in purchasing the boats on a hired purchase basis,” Balogun said.
He asked ATBOWTAN members to prevent anyone from entering the boats if they are not properly donning their life jackets.
