Ensure Safety In Travel

The recent incidents in which lives have been lost in various modes of transportation have once again underscored the need to enforce safety regulations. The bulk of these have occurred on the roads but air travel is not any safer either.

Not long ago, a helicopter crash claimed the lives of the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), General Francis Ogolla, and nine other military officers on a security mission to the North Rift. And there have been scores of crashes involving public service vehicles (PSVs), especially matatus and buses, and also private cars. However, one that has caught many by surprise is a speedboat tragedy on Tana River.

The government has quickly suspended the use of private speedboats in the heavily flooded Kona Punda area of Madogo in Tana River County. This followed the tragic incident in which three people drowned when a private speedboat carrying more than 40 passengers capsized. While 22 people have been rescued so far, another 23 are still missing. It emerged that the boat owner was allegedly not even registered or licensed to provide the transportation service.

As often happens, the authorities have quickly banned the use of speed-boats to ferry people across this flooded section. This knee-jerk reaction is akin to closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. Action should have been taken much earlier to deny reckless boat operators an opportunity to engage in their dangerous pursuits.

But the passengers, too, are to blame for ignoring safety precautions. They boarded the boat to cross a flooded section of the Garissa highway closed by the government because it is unsafe. They paid Sh1,500 to risk their lives on the boat ride from Madogo to Garissa after arriving by bus from Nairobi.

The government must enforce safety regulations in travel. If speedboats must be used, their vessel-worthiness and crew competence should first be confirmed.