Gilbert Ekugbe
The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has stated that it is working with barge operators to have a comprehensive insurance cover for both barges and cargoes on Nigeria’s water ways.
Indeed, the authority stated the need for vessels to be fully insured to give protection to importers and exporters, maintaining that seeking an improved quality insurance cover for vessels is a prime project the Authority is fully committed to in its bids to decongesting the nation’s ports and reducing pressure on Nigerian roads.
The Managing Director, NIWA, Dr. George Moghalu, at a media interactive session with pressmen, said: “We are looking at having quality insurance to cover both the barges and the cargoes. This was some of the issues raised by the importers, because they do not want a situation where they would gamble with their goods to bring their goods from China and Europe and then getting to lose it on the Nigerian water ways.”
Meanwhile, the Managing Director stated that 95 per cent of boat mishaps occur in the night or early hours in the morning, stressing that most of the vessels involved in mishaps do not have night navigational aids.
“90 to 95 per cent accidents happen in the night or early in the morning, saying these vessels do not have night navigational aids so therefore they should not move in the night, but people will still go to move at nights. They will avoid the right jetties and at times, they do not even move from jetties, but at river banks to the water to expose our people to dangers,” he lamented.
