Mr Mu’azu Sambo, the Lagos Area Manager of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA),on Wednesday advised sand dredgers to always maintain a distance of between 500metres and one kilometre between one another.

 

Sambo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that this was one of the precautionary measures to enhance safety on the waterways.

 

He added that dredgers should also maintain a distance of 50metres between the shoreline and dump site so that they would not erode on the coastline.

 

” There should also be a distance of 500metres between a dump site and another.’’

” All these instructions and more would be passed across to all the sand dredgers and boat operators at a stakeholders’ forum NIWA planned to hold very soon,” he said.

 

Sambo also said that some seacoast boats had just been introduced to the Lagos waterways, adding that these were the best and safest boats that would ever be used in the country as at now.

 

” The seacoast boats operate within Ikorodu, CMS, Lagos Island, and Apapa, they are faster and more convenient than other types of boats, it is owned by a foreign company.’’

 

Sambo said that NIWA recently inaugurated some patrol boats meant to ensure constant patrol of the waterways and enforce laws and order there.

 

” Each of the boats with a 300-horse power engine can accommodate 12 officers through which NIWA officials can check speeding boat riders.

” We are also working on bringing in some boat companies into Lagos.”

 

The Area Manager also expressed NIWA’s readiness to partner the Lagos State Government (LASG) through its Ministry of Waterfront and Infrastructure to achieve its goal of fortifying the coastlines.

 

He said that the LASG and NIWA must, however, still fine-tune some grey areas to make the partnership works.

 

Sambo recalled that a Federal High Court judgment delivered on March 28, 2015 said that the Nigerian waterways were solely within the jurisdiction of the Federal Government.

 

He said that the Ministry did not carry NIWA along before arriving at its decision on the activities of boat operators and dredgers.

” When the collaboration was announced, I thought the meeting was to caution the sand dredgers and boat operators on their activities on the waterways.

” The collaboration is dangerous to the operations of NIWA because on the long run, we can be charged for contempt of court.

” This was done without the consent of NIWA.

” Last week after the meeting, there was a powerful delegation of the dredgers’ association, accusing NIWA of selling its statutory rights.

” There must be an amicable resolution between the LASG and NIWA in accordance with the constitution and the judgment of the high court,” Sambo said.

 

 

(NAN)