MWUN Blames Boat Mishap On Neglect

The Maritime Workers
Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Rivers State chapter, has blamed the recent boat mishap along the Bonny River on non provision of serviceable boats by the government.
Speaking to The Tide in Port Harcourt last Wednesday, the union’s State Chairman, Comrade Jonah Jumbo, said the recent boat mishap was avoidable if the state and local governments had listened to the advice of the union.
Jumbo said the union had appealed to the state and local government council officials within the riverine areas of the state on the special need to provide serviceable boats to ply the various sea routes in view of the present season, but this request was not honoured.
He said the Union had also recommended a collaborative effort between the Riverine local governments and the Union on ways of providing good boats within the sea routes, stressing that the local government council officials were rather dilly-dallying over the issue.
The MWUN boss explained that the Union also arranged a meeting to discuss the issue with the local government officials of the riverine communities, but surprisely all the officials avoided  the meeting with the Union to chart a way forward.
He lamented that there are no serviceable boats at any waterside in the state today.
Jumbo appealed to the state government and other stakeholders within the maritime sector to join the union through  a collaborative synergy to provide serviceable boats along the sea routes of the Riversline Communities to avoid unnecessary loss of human lives.
He said the Union will do its best within its limited resources to provide safety jackets to all passengers, stressing that a regulatory mechanism has been put in place to check the usage of the safety jacket by passengers.

Philip Okparaji