Good move on ferry overloading

The Ministry of Works and Transport has responded to the outcry by users of the MV Kalangala ferry over overloading by writing to remind the operators of the ferry that the prescribed loading capacity must be strictly adhered to.

There is a funny practice on the waters. Uganda sailors tend to overload the vessel deliberately, and are nearly always ready with items that they will throw in the waters once it becomes apparent that the vessel is too heavy to sail. Modernity has set in, however, and fewer and fewer people are willing to take such risks.

For months now, some users of the ferry that plies the Entebbe-Kalangala route have complained that the ferry gets so overloaded, putting lives in danger. The users were particularly minded after a terrible ferry accident involving the MV Nyerere ferry claimed hundreds in Tanzania in September. The ill-fated ferry was loaded to about twice its capacity.

Promoting safety on our waters, and indeed our roads and air, needs to be placed at the centre of the way the government plans and works. We appreciate that oftentimes the operators of the ferry are tempted to exceed their maximum prescribed loading capacity due to demand amid scarcity of vessels.

Passenger numbers to or from Kalangala sometimes spike, especially in festive seasons like we are headed into, and in such situations many individuals throw caution to the wind.

One gratifying thing about the whole situation is that the operators of MV Kalangala have promised to bring in a new vessel in a matter of weeks to handle the bulging traffic as the year winds down.

This will hopefully relieve the demand. But even if the demand remains high and unmanageable, there should still be strict compliance with loading regulations.

And while at it, it is important that at some point dangerous loading in rural areas is dealt with. Beyond the roads that traffic police officers ply, it is not unusual to encounter saloon cars ferrying 15 to 20 passengers.
When the taxis from Kampala and other major towns branch off the main roads, some of them double their loading capacity, and the passengers have learnt to live with it, even admonishing fellow passengers who may demand that loading regulations are adhered to.

So what happens in many of Uganda’s villages sometimes happens on the water vessels that transport Ugandans across Lake Victoria and our other waterways. The significant difference is that on water, accidents are direr, with devastating effects. Very few survive when such accidents occur.
We hope the directive will be followed through to ensure that sanity prevails on the waters.