The recent call by a maritime expert to ban the use of wooden boat for commercial services in the Nigerian territorial waters has been criticised by a wooden boat operator in Port Harcourt.

It would be recalled that the Group General Manager of Epenal Nigeria Limited, Mr. Aaron Numolele in a chat with newsmen recently called for the banning of wooden boats for commercial services in the country.

According to him, many Nigerians have died as a result of water mishap that are not regularly reported because of the difficult terrain of the riverine communities, saying that many water mishaps involving local boats took place regularly across the country, especially in the Niger Delta region. He maintained that the use of wooden boas is largely responsible for the avoidable water mishap, stressing that government could assist the riverine communities to acquire modern boats such as fibre  glass boats which in most cases, are difficult to sink, stressing that it would safe guard the lives of ordinary people.

Reacting to the call, a wooden boat operator Mr. Ibinabo Iworima who spoke to The Tide on Monday at Bonny water front, Port Harcourt, said that the call is unnecessary and should be disregarded.

He argued that the wooden boat serves as the same way trailers and trucks serve on land transport, noting that most riverine communities does not have access roads that aid them transport items like building materials, food stuff and other bulk materials and wears, adding that wooden boats renders these services which ordinarily the fibre boats cannot.

“Some of the riverine communuities that have motorable roads do not have need for wooden boats, rather by land transportation. Therefore, banning Wooden boats would mean denying the people access to foodstuff, building materials and other necessities that are needed in the daily lives of the rural riverine communities”, he noted.