Why a life jacket may not save you

Marines prepare to retrieve the ill-fated boat that claimed 33 revellers on Lake Victoria in November. PHOTO by Abubakar Lubowa

What you need to know:

Weight issue. Experts note that travellers weighing more than 70 kilogrammes are not safe wearing a life jacket meant for 45- 60 kilogrammes. Most of the life jackets on the market in Kampala carry the latter weight category.

Many Ugandans are still reminiscing about the November 24 boat accident where at least 33 revellers perished on Lake Victoria.

MV Templar is said to have been carrying about 120 passengers on a leisure cruise before it capsized near Mutima Beach in Mukono District.

Government attributed the tragic incident to the poor state of the boat and revellers not wearing life jackets.
Shortly after the incident, government said travellers will not be allowed on water bodies without life jackets.
Experts say a life jacket helps one float on water, especially the head for many hours in case of an accident as they wait for rescue.

But did you know that a life jacket is not guarantee for surviving on water in case of an accident?

Mr Hussein Tamale, the vice chairperson of Bule Bule Landing Site in Mukono District, says many people who travel on water do not know how to fasten life jackets and in case of an accident, their survival will be miraculous.

Mr Tamale says for a life jacket to work, a professional has to help a traveller fasten it.
He says a professional is supposed to open the front of the jacket and ask the traveller to pass their arms through it.
The expert will then place the hands beneath the shoulders of the jacket and pull it straight while the traveller’s arms are out to the side.

At this point, the professional helps zip or fasten all the buckles to make the life jacket fit properly.
Mr Tamale says the jacket should never be fastened tightly or left to be too loose to ensure that the user is comfortable.
“You must wear a life jacket that is equivalent to your weight. If you are 70 kilogrammes, you should wear one of that weight and never use one below it,” he says.

Unfortunately, an on spot check to different places where life jackets are sold in Kampala shows that there are few life jackets above 70 kilogrammes on the market.

Majority fishermen and traders say they buy anything on the market to fulfil the Ministry of Works and Transport requirement.

Mr Jacob Ssentongo, a trader who sells life jackets in Kiyembe, central Kampala, says Chinese manufacturers normally consider their weight when deciding on the weight of life jackets to be made, forgetting that in Africa, most of the adults weigh more than 80 kilogrammes.
“Majority of our jacket are 45 and 60 kilogrammes. But we can get those which are 70 kilogramme on request,” Mr Ssentongo says.
A life jacket that carries 45 kilogrammes costs Shs80,000 while one of 70 kilogrammes is sold at Shs150,000.
“Majority of our shoppers take the one of 45 kilogrammes because they are cheaper and readily available,” Mr Ssentongo adds.
Mr Jacob Katumba, trader at Yamaha Centre in Kampala, says life jackets of overweight people and children are hard to find or are unavailable on the market.
“For children above eight years, you can use the one of 45 kilogrammes. Adults above 80 kilogrammes can use one of 60 kilogrammes but in case of an accident, they should be rescued first otherwise they will sink,” Mr Katumba says.
Mr Dirisa Walusimbi, the chairperson of Ggaba Fish Protect Unit, agrees that some life jackets do not meet the weight of many travellers, but blamed it on the cost.

Plea
“We request government to make life jackets cheap so that we keep our passengers safe. It becomes very expensive for ordinary fisherman who has a boat that carries 20 passengers to avail life jackets to all the passengers,” Mr Walusimbi says.
“You have seen government helping other groups, why can’t they also help fishermen? We also pay taxes,” he adds.
His sentiments are re-echoed by Mr Tamale, who claims that fishermen do not get a lot money to enable them have state-of-the-art jackets to keep themselves and passengers safe on the water.
“Life jackets are expensive for our standards. By the time you save money to buy all those jackets, the first batch you bought is already old,” Mr Tamale says.

Mr David Sekayima, a fisherman and an official from Mutima Beach, says there is general laxity among travellers regarding wearing life jackets.
Mr Sekayima says government should sensitise the public about the need to wear life jackets.
“We also want government to force everyone who is using the water to have a life jacket. There are people who refuse to use life jackets even when we have them. It is partly why people perished in the Saturday accident,” Mr Sekayima says.

He also suggests that there should be regular inspection of all boats to acertain their mechanical conditions.
Ms Charity Namwanjje, a traveller a regular traveller from Ggaba to Mukono says sometimes she declines to wear the life jackets “because they are dirty and make you sweat a lot.”
“A life jacket is good but fishermen [need to] clean them. You can get infections,” Ms Namwanjje says.

Ms Susan Kataike, the Works and Transport ministry spokesperson, says boat owners should provide life jackets that can carry all weights since it is a business.
“These fishermen know that travellers are of different weights. It is incumbent upon them to ensure that they keep travellers safe on water,” Ms Kataike says.

She says the ministry will intensify maritime inspection, adding that the MV Templar boat accident was an eye opener.
Ms Kataike adds that under the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC), the ministry is establishing several infrastructure on Lake Victoria to operate functional maritime services that will respond to emergencies in real time.

Measures
Last year, this newspaper reported that the African Development Bank (AfDB) board had approved a loan of $25m (about Shs88b) for Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania through the LVBC for developing several infrastructure on the lake.

The infrastructure includes maritime rescue communication centres in the three zones and networks for wireless communication on the lake.
The centre/s will be equipped with staff charged with receiving and responding to distress calls, locating people (mostly fishermen) trapped anywhere on the lake and to coordinate rescue missions.