The rivers and the new pilots

Jan 26, 2013 Editorial

In the past two months there were two major river accidents. Combined they claimed at least fifteen lives. They both occurred in Essequibo, albeit at different points and in different rivers. And in a carbon copy of each other, two boats heading in opposite directions collided head-on; all the dead were in one boat, while the people in the other boat escaped serious injury.
In this country, with the rivers playing a major role in transporting people to the hinterland, the authorities ensured strict adherence to the rules governing travel on the waterways. The Maritime Administration Department, in anticipation of problems on the rivers, sought to ensure that before a boat was licensed it should be properly fitted.
Of course, the decision to ensure that the boats that transport commuters be fitted with sheds was met with cries and complaints and even protests. It is to the credit of the administration that the Maritime Administration remained unmoved. This simple development has already saved lives on the waters.
There is also a law that stipulates that after dark, vessels that ply the waterways must be fitted with the necessary lights. Captains have to be certified before they could be awarded a licence to operate on the waterways and perhaps, more important, the vessels have to be certified as worthy to travel on the waterways.
Many of these boats have indeed been certified, but the problem is that having been certified two years ago, and having travelled a lot, were they actually presented for certification? The same questions should be asked of the people who pilot these vessels. For sure, because they operate in the hinterland, many captains know that there are not too many licensing centres, and certainly not enough inspectors. The result is that they encourage even those who were never certified to pilot the vessels.
This is a recipe for disaster. Indeed many people in the riverain communities would pilot vessels in the same way that coastal Guyanese would use a bicycle. By virtue of doing so from a very young age and because they know the river, people would single them out not only to act as guides, but also to transport them. After a while these people become fixtures along the rivers.
What is not recognized, is that these people are not licenced; neither are they aware of the established rules of river travel. Vessels overtake on the left. If they are heading in opposite directions then they pass each other on the left.
There is also a regulation that the captain should have a clear view ahead. More often than not, because the waterways are not congested, one would often see captains with their prows high in the air above their line of vision. Some of them do have lookouts.
Had this practice been adhered to, then there would not have been two collisions to claim so many lives. In one case the weather was said to be bad, in that it was raining heavily. The rules were simply not adhered to—travel within the limits of your visibility.
In the second collision, the reports are that both vessels were approaching a blind turn. For the accident to be so severe they had to be approaching the turn at high speeds. Again, inexperience and lawlessness would combine to cause a most horrific accident.
There was a time when boats in the riverain areas were propelled by small outboard engines. Not anymore. The gold industry has seen money galore and an influx of people. This has seen larger boats to transport more people and of course, larger engines.
We have seen the effects of the collisions and to make matters worse, we have seen the impact on human lives. These two accidents should be eye openers, because they could signal a trend on hinterland rivers.
It may be necessary for the Maritime Administration to establish monitoring points in the riverain communities so that the various operators could be checked out. But then again, we could hear about a paucity of the human resource.

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