Passengers forced off overloaded boat

Passengers in an overloaded boat at Tapa-Abotoase were on Tuesday forced out by policemen on the orders of the Deputy Minister of Roads and Transport, Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu.

This was after they had defied an order by the Deputy Minister that the overloaded boat should not sail from Tapa-Abotoase to Aglakope, near Kete-Krachi, in the Jasikan District and that the passengers should disembark.

The Deputy Minister, who said the government would not stand by to see lives perish due to the greed of a few, was at Tapa-Abotoase with the Volta Regional Minister, Mr Kwasi Owusu-Yeboa, the acting Shipping Commissioner, Mr Issaka P. Azumah and Mr Adaangiak A. Akanteyam, a marine surveyor, to assess the situation following the boat disaster which claimed about 99 lives, including school children on the lake at Amevlovikope Island on April 18, this year.

The passengers protested against the order because they would have to wait for another five days for another boat to take them to their destination if they obeyed the order.

The team discovered that the boats were not registered and did not have the load line to guide and determine loading capacity. Mr Agyeman-Manu urged the Volta River Authority (VRA) to rectify the omission.

He said two bills, the Ghana Maritime Authority and Shipping bills that will regulate navigation in the country’s territorial waters, have been placed before Parliament.

According to him, the bills, when passed, would help check boat owners as regards transportation on the Volta Lake.

He said the bills would establish a lake traffic control unit, to ensure the enforcement of safety measures on the lake and co-ordinate all lake policing activities. Mr Agyeman-Manu said officials of the VRA, the Shipping and Navigation unit of the Roads and Transport Ministry and the Ghana Navy, will intensify education in order to control the spate of accidents on the lake.

He attributed the problem in the area to indiscipline and greed as well as the lack of effective law enforcement thereby, giving greedy people the opportunity to exploit the situation at the expense of life and property. He assured the general public that a committee of enquiry will soon be constituted to investigate the cause of the accident and appealed to the citizens to exercise restraint and co-operate when the time comes.

The Hohoe Divisional Police Commander, Mr Paul Quarshie, expressed dissatisfaction with the failure of police personnel to ensure that appropriate death records were accurate.

He stated that the failure of the police to arrive at accurate statistics on fatalities conflicts with laid down procedures which should have been followed in establishing coroner cases.

He, therefore, charged the police to be more vigilant and proactive in performing their duties to win the confidence of the public. Mr Quarshie also advised the public to desist from acts of hooliganism and violence under such cases to enable the police carry out their duties efficiently.

The Volta Regional Minister, Mr Owusu-Yeboa noted that indiscipline, lawlessness and lack of moral values on the part of boat owners are contributory factors to the accidents on the lake.

He, therefore, called on the police to expedite action in their investigation to enable those responsible for such lawlessness and indiscipline to face the full rigours of the law to serve as a deterrent to other boat owners.