Members of Parliament from island constituencies have petitioned the government to develop strategies that can enhance safety while using water transport across the country.
The legislators have asked the government to immediately build rescue centers in all the districts surrounding water bodies to monitor the movement of vessels on the lake in case of any accidents.
While addressing the media at Parliament on Tuesday, August 8th, the lawmakers described the proposal by the government to impose a ban on traveling at night on water bodies, limiting movements from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., in order to reduce marine accidents as discriminatory.
MP Helen Nakimuli, also the Shadow Minister for Fisheries, blamed the recent deaths of 30 people who had drowned in Lake Victoria on laxity and a delayed response to rescue the traders.
She blamed the police marines for not doing enough to rescue those who had drowned in the water, leaving the task to local residents.
“We found our people were the ones retrieving the bodies. Imagine police marines were waiting for the recovered bodies from the lake shores,” she added.
To improve safety on the lake, Nakimuli asked the government to do a fresh navigation survey of all the lakes in the country to aid the production of a new navigation chart with well mapped and marked danger spots to be avoided by sailors.
“The season between June and August is dangerous and we usually advise our people not to travel during this time but because the islands are not well served in terms of social services, it becomes inevitable for them to move across the islands,” Nakimuli said.
“For instance, if somebody wants to access health services, out of the 84 islands in Kalangala district, health centres are at only 8 islands. People have to cross from the other Islands to the eight where they can find a health centre,” she added.
MP Moses Kabuusu of Kyamuswa County warned that the ban could affect the social-economic wellbeing of residents who live on the island.
MP Kabuusu, urged the government to implement the USD 14.7 million project for the construction of maritime rescue centres on Lake Victoria than moving to restrict night movements on the lake.
“We demand that the government builds the rescue centres in all districts as money was appropriated by Parliament,” Kabuusu said.
The rescue centres are part of the over USD 36 million loan facility that the African Development Bank (ADB) advanced to Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania under the Lake Victoria Basin Commission of the East African Community (EAC).
Under the loan facility for Uganda, nine rescue centres were earmarked for construction to aid the improvement of safety of life and transport on the lake.
More than 30 people recently died on Lake Victoria after their boat capsized.
