Lagos Assembly summons LASWA- Ojo boat mishap
Lagos State House of Assembly at plenary Thursday summoned the
leadership of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) over a boat
mishap that occurred in Irewe, Ojo Local Government Area of the state
which led to the death of four school children on July 1st.
The resolution followed a motion moved by a member, Lanre Ogunyemi (Ojo II) calling on his colleagues to rise up to the occasion as the tragedy has become a recurrent thing.
Moving the motion, Ogunyemi recalled that the 14 passenger boat capsized while another oncoming boat allegedly belonging to oil bunkerers sped recklessly causing confusion.
The lawmaker stated that four children lost their lives in the process.
It was also alleged that the passengers failed to wear life jackets meant for safety on the waterways.
While commiserating with the families of the deceased, the Chief Whip, Rotimi Abiru urged his colleagues to call on the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), the regulatory body saddled with the responsibility of monitoring activities of waterways in the state to rise up to the occasion.
Contributing to the debate, Majority Leader, Sanai Agunbiade said the latest tragedy has brought to limelight the necessity for the House to take decisive step towards putting a stop to such disaster.
According to him, “this particular incident has reinforced the need to use the defaulters of waterways regulations as scapegoat.
“By doing this we would have sent a strong signal to the operators at the waterways.”
Gbolahan Yishawu (Eti-Osa 2) however pointed out that while calling on the operators to uphold the rules guiding operating on waterways, the size of the safety jackets must also be put into consideration.
Yishawu maintained that the life jackets provided for the children were oversized, saying it would have amounted to nothing even if the children wore the jackets.
Ibrahim Layode (Badagry 1) however differed from his colleagues urging the House to do a self-appraisal to determine the degree of enforcement of the law made by the House as regards regulation on waterways.
He said, “the House should rise up to its responsibility, the law has been passed in this House since 2008. How far have we been able to ensure that the provisions of the law are complied with?”
The resolution followed a motion moved by a member, Lanre Ogunyemi (Ojo II) calling on his colleagues to rise up to the occasion as the tragedy has become a recurrent thing.
Moving the motion, Ogunyemi recalled that the 14 passenger boat capsized while another oncoming boat allegedly belonging to oil bunkerers sped recklessly causing confusion.
The lawmaker stated that four children lost their lives in the process.
It was also alleged that the passengers failed to wear life jackets meant for safety on the waterways.
While commiserating with the families of the deceased, the Chief Whip, Rotimi Abiru urged his colleagues to call on the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), the regulatory body saddled with the responsibility of monitoring activities of waterways in the state to rise up to the occasion.
Contributing to the debate, Majority Leader, Sanai Agunbiade said the latest tragedy has brought to limelight the necessity for the House to take decisive step towards putting a stop to such disaster.
According to him, “this particular incident has reinforced the need to use the defaulters of waterways regulations as scapegoat.
“By doing this we would have sent a strong signal to the operators at the waterways.”
Gbolahan Yishawu (Eti-Osa 2) however pointed out that while calling on the operators to uphold the rules guiding operating on waterways, the size of the safety jackets must also be put into consideration.
Yishawu maintained that the life jackets provided for the children were oversized, saying it would have amounted to nothing even if the children wore the jackets.
Ibrahim Layode (Badagry 1) however differed from his colleagues urging the House to do a self-appraisal to determine the degree of enforcement of the law made by the House as regards regulation on waterways.
He said, “the House should rise up to its responsibility, the law has been passed in this House since 2008. How far have we been able to ensure that the provisions of the law are complied with?”
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