LAGOS BOAT MISHAP: ADHERE TO RULES AND REGULATIONS ,IKUFORIJI TELL LAGOSIANS Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly ,Rt. Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji, has advised Lagosians to adhere strictly to various rules and regulations as contained in the laws of the State. The Speaker made the call at the plenary while listening to the submissions of Transport officials, who were summoned by the Assembly in the wake of recent boat mishap in Ikorodu in which about 12 lives were lost and 13 passengers of the boat mishap rescued. The officials summoned includes the State Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, the Managing Director, Lagos State Waterways Agency, Yinka Marinho and the Managing Director, Lagos State Ferry Services Ltd., Mr. Babatunde Williams. Hon. Sanai Agunbiade , representing Ikorodu Constituency II, has at the last plenary raised the issue and move the motion for the summon of the State officials to come and give clarification on the reason for the capsize of the boat and effort put in place to ensure non-occurrence among other issues. Other Honourable members supported the motion. Meanwhile, On Monday, the Lagos State House of Assembly took its time to listen and ask questions bothering on the responsibilities and operations of Ministry of Transportaion, Lagos State Waterways Authority and Lagos State Ferry Services as regard to the two recent boat mishap in the State. The Speaker, Rt. Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji after having listened to the submissions of the above mentioned institutions and testimonies of two survivors of the Ikorodu boat mishap, where 8 died and 12 survived, established that “ it is a warning to all of us , we don’t take care of basic laws, even at the expense of our lives. It is only in this country that you find a bike rider putting the element on his laps instead of his head and somebody must force you to wear life jacket even inside aircraft, even inside aircraft you will see what it takes to put on seat belt or switch off phone for take-off and landing. Ikuforiji said until people start complying with rules and regulations such accidents might keep occurring. “There is no reason why such should happen on our waters, we really need to get serious about our lives, not waiting for law. He added that the Ministry of Information and Strategy should do more on publicity and an instructive one for that matter. Members also are of the opinion that the Ministry of Transportation and the related agencies should make sure that passengers observe basic rules and regulations and make the inscriptions to save our life very conspicuous. A suggestion to always have one of their operations on board to enforce them to comply was given by Hon. Masha and Hon. Abiodun Tobun. Hon. Bisi Yusuf , the Chairman House Committee on Transportation reiterated that the life jackets are original “ I can attest to it”. Adding his voice, Hon. Sanai Agunbiade said there is need to look into the laws, their operations that guide and ensure penalty for stray log owners. During his speech, Hon. Commissioner for Transportation, Hon. Kayode Opeifa, mentioned that the Ministry always ensures that the waterways are regularly dredged. He said the 39 Jetty has been worked upon but most of the water States are having problem with “NEMA”. He claimed that his Ministry has set up a 12-Man Fact Finding Committee with the aim of finding a lasting solution to boat mishap on Lagos waters. The Managing Director of Lagos State Waterways Authority, Mr. Yinka Mariro said the issue of logs on Lagos waters is one that his agency has agreed upon to always remove and do more monitoring on the waterways.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Apr 2014 20:21:07 +0000
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