The Lagos State government has assured of its readiness to train and retrain waterways operators in order to forestall fatalities on the waterways, the General Manager of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) Mr Damilola Emmanuel has said.
Emmanuel spoke at the training of 105 boat and ferry captains and Deckhands boats, ferries and non conventional crafts, on the safe navigation on the waterways, in Badagry, on Sunday.
The one-day training with the theme: Boat/Ferry Captains and Deckhand Proficiency Upgrade For Non-Conventional Craft was held in collaboration with Simptop Ventures.
The LASWA chief explained that the state governor approved continuous training for for waterways stakeholders, after the October, 2020 fatal accident.
He said: “Mr Governor has directed us to organise training for boats and ferry captains, in the process of licensing them, to enable them be aware of safety measures on our waterways.
“The training will guide the operators on safety procedures as regards Inland waterways operation. The training will also sensitise the operators, while the enforcement will be in collaboration with marine police and our monitoring teams to ensure they operate within the rules and regulations of the Inland waterways authority”, Emmanuel said.
He added that the state government was building the state’s first Jetty terminal to be completed in 2021, adding that the authority would not relent in its efforts for continuous channelisation and removal of water hyacinth.
The Head of Vessel Inspection Unit of the authority, Mr Sunday Ukeme, engaged the participants on rules of the waterways, navigation and safety on sea, in addition to sensitising the boat operators on the importance of navigational buoys on the waterways.
“Often times, the local boat operators remove the navigational buoys from the water and take them home not knowing that the buoy shows them the right channels to follow to prevent accidents”, Ukeme said.
A Medical Doctor with the Lagos State General Hospital, Badagry, Dr Kazeem Lawal, also engaged the participants on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), a life safety technique for accident victims.
Lawal explained that CPR was an emergency procedure that combines chest compressions often with artificial ventilation to preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person who has had cardiac arrest.
The Higher Fire Superintendent, from Lagos State Fire Service, Gospel Akaehrmen, urged the ferry operators to always be conscious of the environment, as safety was everyone’s responsibility.
In particular, Akaehrmen cautioned the ferry operators against unsafe acts and advised them to purchase fire extinguishers and learn how to operate them to reduce loss of lives and properties, in the event of a fire.
Daniel Erinfolami, a boat captain, commended the efforts of the state government and the management of LASWA for exposing them to safety procedures and changing their attitude positively towards water transportation.
Erinfolami said he used to think that the buoys posed a danger to the boats, not knowing that they were meant to provide direction for easy navigation.
Another boat captain, Eniola Ayeni, said he now understood the importance of always allowing right of way and slowing down for one another to avoid boat mishap.
Ayeni said they usually face such challenges at night, when the fishermen hanged their net or if the boat’s lighting was not bright enough to clearly indicate the situation, thereby causing accidents. (NAN)