Drunkenness a major cause of accidents on water bodies – GMA

The Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) has revealed that major accidents that have occurred on water bodies are a result of drunkenness among boat operators.

Addressing the media in Accra, the Director-General of the Authority, Mr Thomas K. Alonsi, expressed concern over the high level of indiscipline on water bodies.

According to him, some boat operators secretly carry alcoholic drinks when leaving shores which pose a danger onshore.

Mr Alonsi stated that plans are far advanced by the Maritime Police to check these acts of indiscipline on the various lakes and rivers to avoid accidents.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) has revealed that it has so far removed 21,000 tree stumps from inland waterways, mostly on the Volta Lake, from various routes.

According to the GMA, since removing the stumps on these waterways, transport services have greatly improved, yielding huge economic and social dividends to the people who live around these communities.

The GMA Boss said: “apart from the human element, the main causes of accident on the Volta Lake include the absence of safe navigational channels. The Authority has therefore embarked on the removal of submerged tree stumps that constitutes hazards to navigation. The main reason for removing these tree stumps is to create navigational channels in order to enhance the safety of navigation.

“The Authority has therefore selected some routes along the Volta Lake and undertaken this exercise of ensuring that we remove these tree stumps which in all, 21,000 from various routes on the Volta Lake have been removed,” he added.

This, he said, includes the removal of 2,200 tree stumps on 2.5 kilometres of waterways from Dambai to Dodoikope, 3,550 tree stumps on 8 kilometres of waterways from Yeji to Makango, 4,800 tree stumps on 11 kilometres of waterways from Yeji to Awujakope, and 10,490 tree stumps on 30 kilometres of waterways from Tumpunjah to Kodorkope to Dambai to Njare all along the Volta Lake.

He said that ferries and boats could previously not operate in these waterways after 5 pm due to poor visibility, often leaving commuters stranded and desperate, but that has now changed, noting that ferries and boats can now navigate safely on the lake up to 8 pm.