The Lagos State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged the state government to give compensation to families of the victims of Saturday’s boat mishap in the state.
The Publicity Secretary of the party in the state, Mr Taofik Gani, made the demand in a statement on Wednesday in Lagos.
NAN reports that a 20 -passenger capacity boat with a 60” HP engine capsized around 11pm on Saturday, along Badore -Ijede sea route.
The General Manager of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), Mr Oluwadamilola Emmanuel, had said that 17 passengers drowned in the incident while three survived.
Emmanuel said that 12 bodies had been recovered had been recovered as at Tuesday, while search was being intensified for the remaining five bodies.
He said preliminary investigations by the agency revealed that the passenger boat capsized after hitting severe waves, occasioned by poor visibility en route Egbin jetty in Ijede, Ikorodu.
The LASWA General Manager said that none of the passengers had life -jackets.
Reacting, the PDP spokesman described the incident as saddening, urging the government to conduct comprehensive investigations into the remote and immediate causes of the boat mishap.
He said LASWA could not exonerate itself from the problem, as it was its duty to ensure passengers were not conveyed through water without life jackets.
Gani urged the agency to take the blame and called on the state government to give compensation to all the victims of the mishap.
”The PDP is demanding full compensation for the families of the dead and injured in the latest boat capsize that occurred on the state waterways along Badore-Ikorodu route.
”We also are demanding a thorough probe into the immediate and remote causes of the mishap, and we are saying all culpable must face prosecution, from the operators to the supervising authority officers.
”The report that passengers did not use life jackets cannot exonerate the state agency in charge of waterways transportation.
”Rather, it actually implicates the agency as not being alive to its responsibilities and unfit to manage the waterways.
”LASWA ought to ensure compliance with all the rules, like passengers wearing life jackets while on board ,” he said.
The PDP spokesman described boat mishap in the state as one too many.
He said the inadequacies of water transportation in the state reflected the government’s poor service delivery to residents (NAN)
Discussion about this post