Boat operators under the aegis of the Association of Tourist Boat Operators and Water Transporters of Nigeria (ATBOWATON) have decried the absence of navigational aids along the ever busy Marina-Badagry waterways route.
This is even as the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) accused vandals from riverine communities of stealing and destroying navigational aids installed on the waterways in Lagos to aid navigation.
Speaking to the Nigerian Tribune when the Managing Director of NIWA came to Lagos to commission three patrol boats, President of ATBOWATON, Mr. Ganiu Tarzan Balogun, revealed that from Marina to Badagry, boat drivers use their instinct to drive passenger boats because there are no navigational aids to aid boat driving on this stretch of inland waterways.
According to Mr. Balogun, “From Marina to Badagry, boat drivers maneuver passenger boats relying on their instincts and expertise. There are no navigational bouys on the waterways. Waterways buoy is a floating marker or signal that is attached to the bottom of the waterway. Buoys serve four main functions. They provide warnings, information, mark underwater hazards and provide a system for navigation.
“When there are no waterway buoys along a busy stretch of water like the Marina-Badagry route, how does government expect boat drivers to know where to keep to on the waterways? If the waterways have enough navigational aids, boat driving in the evening won’t even be a problem.
“The last time I visited Badagry for a social event, there were more passenger boats coming towards Badagry in the evening even though there were no navigational aids on the waterways. It’s a time bomb waiting to explode. It’s important that NIWA deploys more navigational aids to assist waterways navigation.
“Why there are more boats heading towards Badagry towards the evening period is because many workers close around 5pm on the Lagos island and need to get home on time. Going by road is a no for these workers because of the traffic snarl on the roads. If government can deploy more navigational aids on the waterways, it will further enhance navigation in the evening and safe lives.”
When confronted on the absence of navigational aids on the waterways, the NIWA Managing Director, George Moghalu, blamed the activities of vandals from riverine communities for the absence of navigational aids on the waterways. In the words of the NIWA MD, “We have deployed navigational aids on the waterways at several periods, but vandals from riverine communities keep stealing the lights on these buoys, thereby rendering the motive behind the deployment of these buoys ineffective.
“When the lights on these buoys have been removed, they become more of a wreck than navigational aids because the lights on them are no longer there. They become impediments to free flow of passenger boat movement on the waterways. Boats collide with these buoys in the evening because their lights have been removed.
“Our records have shown that vandals from riverine communities are the ones tampering with these Navigational Aids. At nights, the tampered buoys become useless and obstruct movement of passenger boats on the waterways. We will keep appealing to our Royal Fathers in these riverine communities to help us address this issue.”
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