Ensure safety of water transport
On Sunday, August 30, a tragedy occurred on River Nile in which some people lost their valuable lives. The police and Eskom Uganda Ltd released statements that said a group of tourists had gone on the Nile, only for the engine of the boat they were travelling in to develop a problem. The waves then forced the boat to move towards the dam.
Those on the boat were washed through the spillways.
We should be thankful for that. By press time, police had recovered a body of one woman and the search was on for others.
Uganda’s main source of revenue earner today is tourism. And as can be imagined, with the closed borders to contain the spread of Covid-19, the tourism industry has been hit hardest.
To hear that there are tourists visiting the various tourist sites in the country, is good news. However, we must concern ourselves with the protection of these tourists and guides.
Questions abound as to how these particular tourists got themselves trapped in such a terrible situation. Was the station aware of the presence of tourists on the river?
Had their boat been checked to ensure it was in good mechanical condition? Was the guide on the boat experienced enough to handle any eventuality such as engine failure?
Is there a warning system by the power station to alert river users of such events as opening the spillway? Did the power station do everything according to the book?
Such questions need urgent answers.
The safety of people and travellers - from tourists, engineers, to guides, are non-negotiable. There needs to be a system that takes care of all these details so as to ensure that boats that tourists or any traveller for that matter, use are functional and safe enough. This can be achieved by continuously assessing and checking the mechanical conditions of the boats.
Most important, the station needs to be aware of the possible number of tourists visiting and what can be done to minimise or to avoid such accidents. Hopefully one day, the tourist industry will boom again. When it does, tourists need to be sure they will be safe both on our land and waters.
