SAFETY ON VOLTA LAKE (OCT 22, 2009)

ANOTHER boat tragedy hit a community along the Volta Lake last Monday, claiming about 20 lives.
The latest disaster occurred at Wusuta in the Kpando District of the Volta Region.
Eyewitnesses said the casualty rate would have been higher but for the efforts of a schoolteacher, Mr Raphael Nanikuma, who rescued some of the victims.
The DAILY GRAPHIC commends him for this show of valour.
We think the time has come for the authorities to initiate remedies for the recurrent boat tragedies on the Volta Lake.
It is not possible, for instance, for the government to provide pontoons for all the communities along the Volta Lake and other major water bodies throughout the country.
For now and the foreseeable future, private boat owners will continue to play critical roles in transporting people and goods across the lake.
Our resources will not be able to provide for the construction of bridges over the Volta Lake and from Adawso to Ekye Amanfrom in the Afram Plains, for instance, to reduce travel time and eliminate the use of boats to cross the lake.
The state, therefore, has an obligation to facilitate the safety of the people whose mobility depends on boats.
The recurrent tragedy shows that there are no standards regulating the activities of boat owners and their operations on the Volta Lake and other water bodies.
The Ghana Maritime Authority is mandated to regulate the activities of boat owners and set standards for them to ensure the safety of lives and property on the Volta Lake.
The DAILY GRAPHIC would, at this stage, want to know what has happened to plans to phase out wooden boats for fibre glass boats that can withstand storms on the lake. But guess what, now that we have been hit by this boat disaster, officials of state will pontificate about measures that will be adopted to prevent the recurrence of the Wusuta tragedy.
Indeed, the basic rules and regulations required to ensure marine safety are on our statutes but the challenge has always been with enforcement.
The DAILY GRAPHIC recalls that a few years ago when the country was hit by a similar tragedy, the authorities were mandated to enforce safety measures on the lake.
Consequently, boat owners were directed to comply strictly with the weight requirements when plying their trade on the lake.
Judging by the rising levels of boat disasters, the DAILY GRAPHIC is convinced that the stakeholders have been flouting these guidelines with impunity.
Public education is key to achieving behavioural change in society but that does not mean that if people deliberately flout the law they should not be penalised to serve as a deterrent to others.
The DAILY GRAPHIC thinks that because we have allowed boat owners and passengers to ignore the basic rules of engagement, avoidable tragedies continue to occur on the lake.
The challenge is a Herculean one but if we all put our shoulders to the wheel, we may be able to reduce the fatalities on the Volta Lake.
While efforts are made to enforce safety regulations on the lake, the DAILY GRAPHIC calls on the government to expedite action on the acquisition of new pontoons for use on the Volta Lake to reduce the reliance on boats.
Meanwhile, the DAILY GRAPHIC expresses its condolences to the bereaved families. We wish them renewed strength and God’s guidance during these trying times.