NEGLIGENCE is one of the drawbacks in enforcing safety standards as well as malpractice by some relevant authorities and as a result lead in increase in marine accidents, a report by the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) has claimed.
“Most of these accidents are a result of lack of inspections supposed to be carried out by SUMATRA,” the report made in the public by CAG Prof Mussa Assad last week, says.
It further indicates that both, the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication and the Surface and Marine Transport Regulatory Authority (SUMATRA), bear ‘failure’ to discharge their responsibilities efficiently in the area.
It says the two authorities have not effectively managed surveys and inspections of vessels which were operating in Tanzania Mainland, and such, more than 50 percent of small ships do not comply with safety standards.
According to the report, from 2011/2012 to 2015/2016, the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication did not conduct ‘monitors’ on safety issues in the maritime transportation particularly on surveys and inspections as implemented by SUMATRA.
The ministry did not evaluate performance of SUMATRA regarding implementation of the strategic objective on how to reduce accidents to zero on ships, and by 50 percent each year for small ships.
The CAG report faults SUMATRA for not giving stop orders and penalties to most of the defaulters of safety standards, noting that in 2015/2016 only 1.85 percent of defaulters were penalized. The report makes staggering revelation that four ships of MV Vero, MV Juliana, MV Norris and MV St Mathew were given safety certificates, while they had not rectified deficiencies observed during surveys and inspections.
“However the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication did not take any action when SUMATRA issued safety certificates to those ships,” reads the report. He said, ultimately SUMATRA target of reducing accidents were not met and what came instead were recurring marine accidents.
“This contributed to risk of making maritime transportation in Tanzania Mainland unsafe,” reveals CAG Prof Mussa Assad’s report. The CAG called for thorough monitoring and evaluation on the performance of SUMATRA specifically on surveys and inspections of both ships and boats.
“The Ministry of Work, Transport and Communication must access its capacity in terms of human resources with respect to overseeing SUMATRA’s execution of its responsibility,” the CAG urged.
He added that the ministry should establish proper reporting mechanisms, which will ensure delivery of information from SUMATRA regarding safety management in maritime transportation. “Both survey and inspection of vessels if properly conducted can help to reduce non-compliance of safety standards.
Ultimately it can reduce the number of accidents and incidences in maritime transportation,” CAG says in his report. In urging Sumatra to be more responsible, GAG said the authority should ensure that all small ships are licensed and registered timely and the database are established and maintained.
He said the authority, also need to establish computerised system for documentation of maritime activities such as registration of ships, register of small ships, records of surveys and inspections for ships and boats as well as non-compliance of safety standards.
A report on Trends, Causal Analysis, and Recommendations from 14 Years of Ferry Accidents (2016) by Worldwide Ferry Safety Association showed listed Tanzania among top five countries, alongside Indonesia, Bangladesh, Senegal, and the Philippines, that were responsible for almost two-thirds of 21,574 reported fatalities in the 14-year period.
According to the report, Tanzania had 15 percent of proportion of ferry fatalities in the 14-year period.
Sumatra’s own report on ‘why marine accidents will always increase,’ mentions main cause factors as vessels being overloaded with passengers and cargo; while most of the vessels do not have the required standards and are operated with unqualified and inexperienced staff.
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