Determined to put an end to the persistent boat mishap on Nigerian waters, the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has said that it is going to engage Public Private Partnership (PPP) in ensuring that wrecks on the waterways are removed.
The Managing Director of NIWA, Dr. Adeleke Mamora, who disclosed this in a chat with Shipping Position Daily in Lagos last week, said that removal of wrecks on waterways is not the major issue, but the safety of the wrecks removed to avoid causing more harm.
He said that what they agency is looking at is a situation where the wrecks removed are either sold for recycling or are properly monitored so that the wrecks are not kept in the deeper part of the channels.
Mamora, maintained that the agency will ensure that the wrecks removed are not dumped in the deeper part of the water, adding that there will be strict enforcement of regulations to ensure compliance to inland waterways transportation code.
Explaining further, he said that the involvement of PPP, does not show lack of capacity on the side of NIWA but to bring out strategies to tackle the numerous challenges in the sector.
He however said that boat insurance policies should cover wreck removal on the waterways, even as he promised that the agency is going to hold people responsible for their actions.
“It is very easy for people to clear wrecks from a particular location and dump it in another locations. So what we are looking at is a kind of situation where wrecks that are cleared will either be sold for recycling or we will have some monitoring in place where we know what the wrecks are kept. We will definitely ensure that the wrecks removed are not dumped in deeper areas”, he explained.
“The issue of wrecks is not just enough to clear the wrecks and some other obstacles on the waters, we are also interested on where and how to manage the wrecks”.
The NIWA boss reiterated that the agency is going to work in according to international best practices to block the challenges in the sector.
He fingered boat mishap as one of the issues that his administration at NIWA will address with immediate effect, even as he added that most of the boat mishaps that have so far been recorded have been as a result of non-compliance.
Mamora promised that the agency will be increasing sensitization and awareness campaign so that people can take the issue of safety seriously.
He blamed overloading, lack of life jackets, night navigation amongst others as some of the major causes of most mishaps.
“We have had a few accidents in the last couple of weeks and the information available following investigations has to do with non-compliance. So we are going to increase our sensitization enlightenment and awareness campaign so that we want our people to take the issue of safety and appreciate that safety first. And in that regards the issue of overloading of the boats, issue of non-wearing of life jackets, night sailing without navigational light, these are some of things we have discovered that tends to be the common causes of all these mishaps. And of course, we also need to monitor the inland waterways very well monitoring with the view and aim of ensuring that there is compliance”, he added.
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