Water transport laws are archaic

On March 28 and 29, 36 people perished in accidents on Lake Victoria. This calls for debate on the safety of our people who use water transport. Water transport which is supposed to be the safest has claimed many lives. On March 26, 45 people died near Sserinya Island on Lake Victoria. The cause was engine failure. On September 6, 1999, 41 died on Lake Albert. The cause was overloading. Again on August 18, 2000, 10 people died on the same lake and the cause of the accident was overloading. Several other incidents in which one to five people die happen regularly on our waters but do not attract much publicity. Almost in all the incidents mentioned above, the cause of the accidents was human error. These errors could be avoided if people took safety measures seriously. In last week's incidents, for example, one of the boats had an engine of 25 horse power, but was carrying 22 people with cargo. The maximum capacity of such a boat, according Jackson Draza (ASP)and O/C of the Police Marine Unit, would be 15 people with only personal effects, not cargo. The second boat had an engine of 48 horse power, a container boat registered and licensed to carry fresh fish. Such a boat is not authorised to carry any passenger apart from the rider and maybe one or two turn boys but this one had 22 passengers on top of the fish! "That is abuse of the licensing authority at its highest," says Draza. It would be safer if boats did not travel at night. Moving at night has severe disadvantages. Apart from poor visibility, it is very difficult to get rescue services in case of an accident. There is no way other people will know of your predicament before daybreak. Most water transporters prefer travelling at night, not because it is safer, but because they can overload with impunity. Personal safety on the lake is paramount. All passenger boats ought to have life jackets for their passengers. Unfortunately, the law is silent about the use of the jackets and therefore the Police Marine Unit cannot enforce it. Ironically, these jackets are manufactured here in Uganda, by Kim-Koa [U] Ltd! Even where water travelers cannot afford the cost, there is need to improvise locally-made water "jackets". According to Draza, in an experiment carried out by the Police Marine Unit, when four jerrycans are tied together on some pieces of wood and the ropes tied around people, they can save up to eight people in case of an accident. The laws governing water transport are not adequate enough to ensure safety of passengers. Both the Water, Inland Transport (Control) Act (1939) and the Vessels (Registration) Act (1904) are too old to address the dynamics of safety on water today. Both laws do not mention the use of life jackets and give very small punishments to offenders. There is need therefore to enact a new law that takes care of modern safety standards on the waters. Landing sites authorities need to have a manifest or record of all boats leaving and landing on their sites. Ultimately, the power of personal safety belongs to the passenger themselves who should, refuse to travel on an overloaded boat or to travel at night. Ends