Water transport lacks  Control

Sun, 15 Oct 2017 11:08:46 +0000

By AARON CHIYANZO AND KALOBWE BWALYA

ZAMBIA risks losing more people on its water bodies because of a lack of control measures, monitoring and sensitization on activities taking place, including water transport, Passenger, Pedestrian and Cyclist Association (PAPECA) president, Lawrence Kaoma has warned.

And Home Affairs minister Stephen Kampyongo says government was still waiting for a report from Northern Province minister Brian Mundubile and Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) regarding the extent of the Lake Bangweulu disaster. Mr Kampyongo said a report from the minister and an assessment by DMMU would help ascertain the kind of help to be given to the disaster victims and the affected families and it is good that a number of the victims have been retrieved.  In an interview with the told Daily Nation, Mr Kampyongo said Government will ensure that it improved the safety on water transport including people using canoes so that no one died on the water.

Meanwhile in a separate interview, Mr Kaoma said that water transport in Zambia was unsafe because of a lack of sensitization and strict control measures on safety and monitoring on major water bodies.

He said in an interview with the Sunday Nation that Zambia had continued to record accidents on water bodies because of a lack of strict safety control measures.

Mr Kaoma observed that water vessels and canoes were able to move even at night without any monitoring or control.

He said that people using water transport were also not sensitized on weather patterns, risks and usage of several water vessels. Mr Kaoma, who passed on his condolences to the families of the victims who perished after a vessel they were travelling in capsized on Lake Bangweulu, said that such accidents could be avoided.

He called on government to put in strict measures to ensure that water transport was controlled and well monitored.

Mr Kaoma reiterated that Zambian water transport was currently unsafe and that government needed to urgently step in if it really wanted to improve the sector.

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