…As operators laud effective policing of waterways
The President, Association of Tourist Boat Operators and Water Transportation of Nigeria (ATBOWATON), Mr. Ganiyu Sekoni Balogun has said that patronage of the inland waterways transportation has improved over time leading to the movement of more boats and reduction in man hour loss to his members.
Balogun who made this known in a chat with Primetime Reporters in Lagos recalled that boat operators initially had one trip from Ikorodu to Adax jetty or to Victoria Island in the morning and had to remain idle for the rest of the day waiting until evening when they will take passengers from Adax jetty or Victoria Island as the case maybe back to Ikorodu.
He however stated that all that were now history as more boats now move up until eleven o’clock in the morning describing it as an improvement over what used to be the norm.
According to him,” Formerly, once they come in the morning around 6.30, 7, 8, all the boats will park again but now they are seeing increment in the number of passengers that come which means the boats go back again and bring more passengers. They say necessity is the mother of invention, sometimes necessity makes people to move from one place to another. The traffic is getting better in some area and in some area it is getting hectic and then there is an alternative which means by the waters, they will now come and use water.
“A lot of people now know more that they can move from one end to the other by waterways. So there is an improvement in the patronage of boats operators, not only Tarzan but I am talking generally as far as Lagos is concerned. Awareness is increasing than it used to be in the past”.
He disclosed that incessant arrest of boat operators by the police who often times accused them of illegal bunkering owing to the amount of fuel they bought in drums had now become a thing of the past as the police now understood that there was no fuel station on the waterways and that they needed that large quantity of fuel to enable them carry on with their business effectively.
“Like I told earlier, I remember telling you about the fueling problem, that problem is still there but arresting and harassment of our members on the road by the police because they buy fuel in jerricans has gone away. Police doesn’t come to arrest our vehicles on the road again. Formerly, when you go to buy fuel in drums because there is no filling stations on the waterways like I told you earlier, so we have to buy fuel in drums, take it to our operations but it was turned to another thing as they will arrest you and charge you with illegal bunkering, that government has said that nobody should buy fuel in jerricans and unfortunately NEPA is no more there anymore, so, peoples are now buying in jerricans and in generators. Sometimes, people used to carry their generators along to make sure that they put directly in the generators unfortunately, we are not using generator because it is not generator issue and in a day, we use almost a thousand litres of fuel in a day to ferry the boat across the water.
“But the police has slowed down on that, they don’t harass us again and I think government is working towards it to let people know. The development maybe because of our outcry that we need fuel stations on the waterways that led to the reduction in the pressure of arresting people on the waterways. We use a lot of fuel, just yesterday, the total fuel bought was 15, 575 to get ready for the movement of the boats because you can’t buy fuel when the passengers are already in the boat, you have to get it in advance, you have to be prepared”, he said.
On how secured and safe the waterways were presently, the ATBOWATON boss said,” As far as up till today, the police have been on the waters here and there, effective policing. The police has been up and doing but I think I have to plead with the government to equip the police more, they should buy them more boats, they don’t have to go buy them boats in America or in Russia which will now become so much expensive but there are boats built in Nigeria that can serve their purpose. What they need is constant fueling and encouragement that will encourage them to be in their post and caution them not to be harassing boat operators. You know, the water is not like the road, you can park your car on the road side and check the particulars but boat is not done that way, you have to allow the boat reach its destination and then you go and check their particulars, that way, the safety will be there but if stop the boat on the middle of the water trying to check their papers while there are passengers onboard is dangerous.
“The police have greatly changed only that the government needs to give them more facilities, when you take care of the police, the police will take care of the people”.
Send your news, press releases/articles as well as your adverts to info@primetimereporters.com. Also, follow us on Twitter @reportersinfo and on Facebook on facebook.com/primetimereporters or call the editor on 07030661526, 08053908817.
