The Association of Tourist Boat Operators and Water Transport of Nigeria has urged the Federal Government to establish floating fuel stations on the nation’s water bodies.
The National President, ATBOWTON, Ganiyu Tarzan, disclosed this in an interview with our correspondent. He added that this would address the issue of fuel supply for boat operators.
He said, “On the issue of fuel stations, we need floating fuel stations. This is a floating station located in the middle of the water which will solve the issue of boat operators going back and forth looking for fuel.
“Let’s say a boat is going to Badagry from Lagos now, it has to carry fuel that will take it to Badagry and back and even extra which is not the best. So, if operators can buy fuel in the middle of the water, they won’t need to carry excess fuel. And in case of fire incidence, the boat won’t have too many loads.
“Recently a boat got burnt along Falomo because of the fuel in the boat. The more fuel you carry the more the risk of fire incidence.”
According to Tarzan, the problem with the nation’s waterways is a major reason for constant boat mishaps.
He said, “The wrecks affect the activities of all navigable movements on the waterways. The government has to find a way to remove them. I want to give an example if you are coming from somewhere and your vehicle has problems on the road you have to fix it and drive it away. That is what it should be and not abandoning it there.
“My take on this is for them to put a sign on the spots where there are wrecks. It is not compulsory that they remove all of the wrecks at the same time, there should be an indication when a wreck is at a particular spot.
“Anyone that is under the water should have an erected sign to indicate its presence. Most of the accidents that happen on the waterways that are being blamed on boat operators, are as a result of human error, but most of them are as a result of this kind of thing, wrecks that cannot be seen.”
