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Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Transport, Dr. Chikanele Utchay has charged Marine and Road transport drivers to imbibe safety consciousness during the ember months of the year.
Mrs. Utchay who spoke to journalists during the safety awareness campaigns organised by her ministry at the Abonema Ward Jetty in Port Harcourt said that the ministry embarked on safety sensitization campaigns in jetties and motor parks in the state to educate drivers on the need to be safety conscious during the Christmas period to avoid issues of accidents on the roads and waterways.
“People say Ember months are black or doom months but it is the way you make it that will make it a doom month or beautiful month,” she said.
The Permanent Secretary who averred that safety was an all round business which must be personalized in the homes and offices, said the Ministry decided to donate life Jackets to the various jetties visited to assist the marine boat operators and passengers during travels on the waterways.
Chairman, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, Comrd. Isreal Wanibor Benson who spoke to newsmen expressed appreciations to the ministry for carrying out the awareness campaigns for its members stressing that safety was a continuous and regular operations that should involved everybody.
Comrd. Benson said the awareness campaigns was not limited to Christmas’s season but that it was a routine exercise for every individual and organisations.
Meanwhile, the chairman, Bakana section of the Boat drivers Uniin at Abonema Warf, Comrd. Dein Davis has appealed for the support of the state government, individuals and corporate organisations in the provision of life jackets for commuters using the Bakana waterways stating that the high costs of the gadgets and the unbearable maintance costs of boat engine parts has made it impossible for them to provide the safety device to the numerous passengers using the jetty during the Christmas period.
According to the boat chairman, the wearing of life jackets is compulsory for every passengers using our boat. “Life jacket is a priority, safety is our concern”, he said.
While appreciating the state Ministry of Transport for it’s safety sensitization programmes for its members, the chairman also commended the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) for regularly providing trainings for it’s boat drivers and appealed to the authority to assist in clearing the debris that litter the waterways to avoid accidents on the route.
The weeklong safety awareness campaign with the slogan; ‘Safety is Everyone’s Business: Make it a Culture and not Just a Campaign,’ featured safety education on safe driving, use of fire extinguishers, avoidance of alcohol and drugs during driving, rescue operations at sea among others.
