With the death toll from Thursday's ferry
disaster in Tanzania rising to over 170 people, it has emerged Lake
Victoria will continue to be a death bed for the riparian communities as
long as maritime laws cannot be enforced.
One
of the laws is the Lake Victoria Transport Act, 2007, that was
initiated by the East African Community (EAC). It came into force in
January 2008 but not been fully applied.
The
Act was brought in to improve safety on the giant lake shared by
Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya and which is prone to some of the world's
major maritime disasters.
"The
problem has been applicability of the Act to the different types of
vessels depending on their make, age and types of cargo they carry and
action against non-complying states ", a recent study indicates.
The
situation has equally not been rosy for the national laws of Kenya,
Uganda and Tanzania which have not been effective enough to contain the
situation.
Both Kenya and Tanzania
have similar laws, the Merchant Shipping Acts while for Uganda, the most
prominent are the Ferries Act and the Inland Water Transport Act, among
others.
Despite being frequented by
major disasters, marine transport within the giant lake (69,000 square
km) is still the most preferred mode of transport for people and cargo
because it is cheap.
Besides
overloading, accidents have been attributed to old vessels, incompetent
and unqualified crew, poor technical staff, absence of life jackets,
outdated navigational charts and absence of navigational aids.
A
study by Oslo University in Sweden in 2011 indicated that an estimated
5,000 people drown annually in the lake and its estuaries as a result of
maritime accidents.
Efforts by EAC
to enhance safety appear to be far from successful even with the
establishment of a Regional Maritime Rescue Communication Centre in
Mwanza and sub-stations in Kisumu and Entebbe.
Until
Friday, the EAC and its organs in Arusha have not released a statement
about the most deadly disaster seen in the lake in over 30 years.
However,
some officials say marine safety in the shared water body has been
their long time concern, citing the donor-supported Lake Victoria
Transport Programme.
In Tanzania, the
improvement of Bukoba, Mwanza, Kemondo and Ukerewe jetties are among
the projects set to be submitted to the World Bank in December this year
for financing.
Ukerewe,an island district south east of Lake Victoria in Mwanza region, where the disaster happened.
170
bodies have been retrieved from the lake amid reports that the
ill-fated vessel was overloaded with up to 400 passengers, 100 bags of
maize and a lorry full of iron bars, among other luggage.
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