The Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), George Moghalu, has given a marching order to all the agency’s Area Managers nationwide to impound rickety boats seen plying the nations inland waterways.
This is even as the NIWA boss lamented the rising spate of waterways accidents, stating that the agency is putting all hands on deck to reduce incessant boat mishaps on the nation’s waterways.
Speaking at the weekend in Lagos during a meeting with stakeholders, NIWA MD, George Moghalu, stated that the agency is currently under-reported. According to the NIWA MD, “I have set a target for myself to make water transportation efficient for bulk cargoes and passenger movement.
“We are also deploying efforts towards cleaning our waterways as regards the removal of water hyacinth and wrecks. We are also looking at developing new jetties, repairing the old jetties, and shoreline development.
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“We are concerned about rising accidents on our waterways and we have identified some reasons for the accidents because many of them happen very late in the night or in the early hours of the day.
“In most cases, it is either the boats are not fixed with navigational aids, or they are rickety, or that the boat drivers are illiterates and not certified to operate, or there are no life jackets.
“I have given a directive to all the Area Managers that NIWA does not want to see any rickety boats on our waterways. Any rickety boat seen plying our waterways should be impounded.
“We are also building a database of all professional boat drivers, which will be circulated across all our operational
bases. Any boat driver not qualified to man a boat, and is seen doing that will be arrested.
“Any vessel that does not have navigational aids will not be allowed to operate in the night on our waters. Also,
we will come hard on boat overloading because it’s another major reason why boat mishaps persist on our waterways.”
On Baro port, the NIWA MD explained that a lack of access road is what is delaying the optimal use of the port.
In his words, “The Baro Riverport is ready, but for now, there is no access road linking the port.
“I am currently talking to the Niger State Government and the Federal Ministry of Works over this, and I can assure you that it is being addressed in the proper quarters.”
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