Enforce water safety guidelines

As the nation comes to terms with the tragedy that struck revellers on a boat cruise at the weekend, the country must devise and implement measures to improve marine safety. In the Saturday incident, a boat carrying about 100 people capsized on Lake Victoria. By press time, police put the number of the dead at 30 and 26 rescued. A number of merrymakers remain unaccounted for.

As the Uganda People’s Defence Forces and Uganda Police marine units continue the search and rescue mission, there are contradicting statements about the cause of accident. While some reports indicate overloading as cause of accident, other accounts point to a faulty vessel.

Questions are now being raised on whether the boat, which had party-goers that included celebrities and socialites, followed standard safety procedures before it set out on the cruise. Many passengers were reportedly not wearing life jackets and some survivors say the jackets were not enough for those on the boat.

According to the officers in charge of the rescue operations, the ill-fated boat was meant to be undergoing repairs due to a long-standing mechanical problem. It reportedly had a hole under it.

It also emerged that the boat had been grounded for a long time and was hurriedly repaired after it was booked for the fateful trip. It has never been approved and licensed to operate and never been inspected. The boat was therefore operating illegally.

Nearby residents also said the vessel was hired out for parties every weekend but it is often overloaded with revellers. Such revelations point to an obvious gap in monitoring of safety standards on our waters where a boat is allowed to operate with passengers that double its normal capacity. That is why some of the first people to respond to the tragedy – fishermen on two small boats – became victims when several people jumped onto the boats, causing another accident.

We have had several boat accidents in the past and this newspaper has consistently raised the issue of water safety regulations. In 2014 when a city tycoon’s son drowned at marina beach, the Marine Police Unit said lack of regulations is hindering water transport safety. The head of the unit said they had held a meeting with officials from the Ministry of Works and Transport and hoped the guidelines would soon be passed to enable them do massive enforcement.

Over the years, boat accidents have claimed many lives because the country lacks proper regulations and robust policing. We must establish and apply water transport safety standards to curb accidents.