The Managing Director of the National Inland
Waterways Authority (NIWA), Chief George Moghalu, has said soon boats and water
vessels that do not have permits issued by the Authority will not be allowed in Nigeria’s inland waterways.
Moghalu, who stated this during his visit to NIWA’s
operational base in Yenagoa, the Bayesla State capital, yesterday, said all
boats using the waterways would have to meet safety standards.
“We are going to play clearly and strictly our
regulatory roles. We are going to enforce the use of permits before boats can
enter the waterways because we cannot allow rickety vessels to waste the lives
of Nigerians,” he said.
NIWA boss disclosed that the Authority has signed a
memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a firm to provide lifejackets across all
water formations in Nigeria.
“We have started clearing water debris and water
hyacinth on some of our channels. We have also started training processes in
some of our locations,” Moghalu added.
All these, he said, were part of measures NIWA was
puting in place to make inland waterway transportation the transport means of
choice in the shortest possible time in the country.
He lamented that the country was losing a lot
because people knew very little about NIWA and inland water transportation,
adding: “So we are out to get NIWA to the public eye.”
The NIWA managing director has earlier inspected
facilities at the Yenagoa base of the Authority where he noted with dismay the
dilapidated state of the facilities, which he said was inimical to the security
of the base.
Many serviceable boats, including passenger and
gunboats, had been left to rot away while most of the perimeter fence had
collapsed. The ceiling in the main office had collapsed and the roof was
leaking, it was learnt.
The MD, however, promised that the Authority would do
everything possible to support the Bayelsa State base to recover and meet its
targets.
No comments:
Post a Comment