From Fred Itua, Abuja
The Federal Government, through the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), said it has acquired 20 patrol boats, to boost its monitoring and enforcement of protocols on the inland waterways, towards tackling the menace of boat mishaps in the country.
NIWA’s Managing Director, George Moghalu, made the disclosure in Abuja, yesterday, while briefing journalists shortly after the commissioning of the authority’s new area office by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.
Moghalu, while expressing concerns over the menace of boat mishaps, which has claimed many lives in recent times, said NIWA was “doing quite a lot” to address the issue.
He said: “We are concerned about it. We are enforcing the protocols. Last week, we were in Lagos to inaugurate a task force whose responsibility is to ensure that protocols are fully observed. And to facilitate this, we also gave out three patrol boats to the Lagos office.
“We have acquired about 20 of them and we are distributing them to various area offices. We have also acquired some ambulances, and we are distributing them to area offices.”