NIWA Steps Up Safety Measures At Lagos Jetties

The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) said it had posted its workers to all jetties in Lagos to enforce safety.
The Lagos Area Manager of NIWA, Alhaji Muazu Sambo, made the disclosure in an interview with newsmen in Lagos.
The NIWA boss said the gesture was to further safeguard the lives of people, travelling on waterways, saying that many operators had failed to comply with safety regulations.
Sambo said that the authority’s safety compliance team had started visiting all the jetties, educating and enlightening commuters and ferry operators.
He said that NIWA’s safety enlightenment campaign and enforcement of regulation across all navigable routes in the state were being reinforced.
“Safety is our main concern on waterways and we are ready to stop all unnecessary waste of lives on our waterways.
“We have posted NIWA staff to as many jetties as our manpower has allowed us.
“We are going to have permanent NIWA staff in every jetty, who will ensure that all measures necessary for safety are complied with before a boat takes off from the terminal.’’
 The manager said that the safety team had been confiscating worn-out life jackets and sub-standard ones to enhance safety of passengers.
“We want to make sure that standard life jackets are used, so we have been seizing all worn-out life jackets,’’ he said.
The safety compliance team has visited Maijidun, Maroko, CMS and Ikorodu jetties, following the boat mishap at Maijidun on April 2, which claimed about nine lives.