About 30 illegal jetties patronised by more than 1,121 rickety boats, currently ply Lagos waterways. Investigations carried out by Shipping Position Daily, have revealed that, sadly these have claimed over 27 lives in boat accidents within the Lagos waterways alone in the last six months.
According to information exclusively made available to our correspondent by the Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA); Mrs. Nkechi Ajayi , Lagos State has over 57 jetties with 27 of them commercially operational while 30 is not in operation.
She disclosed that, from January till date, the agency has recorded eight boat mishaps, which have claimed 27 lives.
Recall that an accident, which occurred about three weeks ago, led to the death of about 21 people. The Lagos State Emergency Management Authority boss, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, confirmed that the boat allegedly capsized due to over-loading.
Between 2018 and mid-2019, hundreds have reportedly lost their lives to boat avoidable tragedies, with statistics pegging the casualties at over 185.
Opinions have however differed on the actual cause of boat mishaps on our waterways; some have attributed it to fate, absence of life jackets, abandoned wreckage, over-speeding, human errors among others.
In a recent chat with the President Association of Tourism Boats Operators and Water Transporters (ATBOWATON) Mr. Tarzan Ganiu Balogun, he said most often, boat mishaps are caused as a result of human error or passenger error, he opined that constant government dialogue with operators will reduce the numbers of boat mishap on our waterways.
“Some of the causes of boat mishap or accident are human error, while some are passengers issues, for instance some of the survivors of the last boat mishap were our former staff and I guess some of their experiences of the marine makes them to survive the mishap and we learnt nobody was wearing life jacket ,according to the report they gave us.
Attributing some cause to human interference, he added that: "We learnt that the boat was carrying two heavy pipes, and that it was not actually meant for carrying passengers but because the people were stranded at the jetty they decided to board the boat even when the man was saying he was not going, they however forced the man and it actually led to the death of the victims”.
On how the issue of illegal jetties and boat mishaps can be curbed on our waterways, he said there is need for government to have constant dialogue with boat operators.
"The government needs to be closer to the operators because the closer they are to us, the better it is for all of us, on the issue of illegal jetty if the government consult us, we will know what to do, because we can't take laws into our hands by destroying these jetties”
"We are not touts, we can only pass the information to the government for them to do the needful, and then if the government is saying a particular place is suitable to have a jetty, they should consult us, to know the type of jetty suitable for that environment.
"Because at the end of the day, they may end up wasting money, what I meant by that is that they may end up having a jetty that is too big or small”, he said.
When asked what the Lagos State government is doing to curb incessant boat mishaps on the waterways ,the image maker of LASWA said “LASWA regularly embark on routine checks of all boats and ferries plying the waterways to ensure compliance, not only with life jacket but also to enforce all other navigational rules.”
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