NIWA commissions three patrol boats for Lagos waterways
By Seun Ibiyemi
The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) last week commissioned three patrol boats that will be deployed on the Lagos inland waterways to enforce safety.
The Authority inaugurated a task force team, that will guide the patrol boats and comb the Lagos waterways to ensure operators key into the Federal Government directive on safety.
Speaking after commissioning the boats, the Managing Director of NIWA, George Moghalu explained that the agency procured 20 patrol boats and decided to hand over three for the Lagos inland waterways.
According to the NIWA MD, “We have procured 20 patrol boats for all the nations inland waterways. We will be procuring more as the demand arises, but for now, we have twenty patrol boats and we have decided to deploy three of the boats for the Lagos inland waterways.
“We have also inaugurated a Task force that will man these boats. The responsibility of these patrol boats is to ensure compliance on the Lagos inland waterways by boat operators.
“One of our headaches is the penchant by operators to overload boats. Many of the accidents that have claimed lives on our inland waterways has been down to overloading issues.
“Another problem we encounter on the waterways is the refusal to wear Life Jackets for passengers during ferry services by boat operators.
“It will be the responsibility of this Task Force to ensure compliance on our waterways henceforth. The three patrol boats will comb the Lagos inland waterways on a 24hpirs basis to apprehend operators who default on these safety rules. Anybody caught flouting these safety regulations will be arrested henceforth.
“We appreciate the collaborative efforts of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) and other government agencies. We will continue to look forward to collaborating with sister agencies to ensure that water transportation is safe and efficient.
“Another issue that has been bothering us has to do with night boat trips. Our directive is clear, boats should not ply the waterways once it’s 6:30 pm in the evening. Many of the boat mishaps have occured at night. Our patrol boats will be combing the waterways in the evening to apprehend those defaulting on this directive.”
On activities of fishermen and dredgers whose operation constitute a threat to the safe navigation of the inland waterways in Lagos, the NIWA helmsman explained that the agency’s Lagos Area Office will be meeting with fishermen and dredgers to let them know why they need to work with caution.
“We have heard of fishermen in coastal areas laying their nets across the waterways channel, and thus constituting hindrances to the free flow of boat operations.
“We will be meeting with them later in the week to let them know why they need to adjust their operations. Most of the dead during boat mishaps are our friends, relatives and siblings, we cannot safford another boat mishap in Lagos,” the NIWA MD added.
Earlier in her speech, the Lagos Area Manager, Engineer Sarat Braimah, appreciated the NIWA MD for the support so far for the Lagos office of the agency.
