19th October, 2012
For safety of lives and property on the Lagos waters, the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) has vowed that it would henceforth sanction any ferry operator found with overloading of passengers on Lagos waterways.
The sanction threat came amidst series of petitions already written to the Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola over the unsafe boat operations in the state.
The Managing Director of LASWA, Yinka Marinho, made this disclosure at a media briefing in Lagos recently that ferry service operators plying their trade on the state’s waters are yet to comply with the safety compliance/regulation, especially as regard to overloading on navigation boats.
Marinho said that the agency is aware of the overloading issue, adding that henceforth it would no longer condone such act on the waterways because safety is one cardinal aspect of the agency’s function.
He said that LASWA is committed to protection of lives and effective regulation of water transportation in Lagos state and despite the agency’s effort to ensure that ferry operators adhere to the state’s waterways rules, it was dismayed to see that some boats are still carrying overloading passengers during navigation on the waters.
The LASWA’s boss however explained that new safety measures to curb the menace are afoot, pointing out that many boats were seized by the agency’s marine enforcement unit for flaunting the state’s waterways safety rules.
According to him, the agency would increase patrol by its marine enforcement unit to checkmate overloading on the waterways, adding that the taskforce will be empowered to verify the number of passengers aboard a boat to ensure it is within the stipulated level.
—Esthers Komolafe