Gambia: No Emergency Rescue Boats for Ferry Service – GM Jawara
Lamin Jawara, the overall supervisor of Ferries, has revealed that there isn’t any rescue boat of their possession in case of emergency, including it’s a part of their plans.
Mr. Jawara spoke to QTV Gambia on Thursday, revealing that on account of constraints in assets, they might not have the ability to maintain rescue boats. He famous its a part of their plans and that they’ve mentioned with Nationwide Catastrophe Administration Company (NDMA) to purchase one for them.
He defined that the income from the ferries can not maintain their operations, including the federal government is just not paying their subsidies, which contributes to the issues.
Dwelling on the latest incident of the Kanilai Ferry who was unable to land, he mentioned: “Ferry service is complicated. We generally do have difficulties. On Sunday, Kanilai left Banjul to land in Barra however the captain had missed the method. He goes again to land once more however sadly one of many again engines failed. The ferry got here with 4 engines however they’ve began creating issues. There was a time when just one engine was functioning however we tried to have three working engines.”
He defined that there’s just one engine in the back of Kanilai Ferry; and since Barra is an open place, the ferry was pushed and it obtained trapped within the sand. It was unable to get out due to the failed engine.
When the incident occurred, passengers have been unable to attend after three hours with out rescue; they determined to pay locals to hold them out. Nevertheless, Jawara urged that something that occurs; the passengers ought to wait and take heed to the captain. He mentioned there was no want for them to rush.
Pa Dawda Sanyang, the director of Operations, additionally reiterated that when it comes to response, there are a lot of stakeholders together with the hearth companies and navy. He emphasised: “We’re constrained about assets that is why we can not reply as we needed however we attempt to utilise the perfect choices. On this case, we use the ferry we’ve.”
