• One ferry to be repaired at a time to avoid interfering with ferry services 'as repair of one ferry takes over four months'
• State rejects calls for a diving unit at KFS, saying the help of those of neighbouring KPA and Navy can be sought if need arises.
Image: FILE
Image: FILE
Three of the six ferries operating across the Likoni and Mtongwe channels are in dire need of repair, Kenya Ferry Services managing director Bakari Gowa said on Saturday.
The MD said the poor state of the ferries is one of the major challenges they face and has been blamed for the frequent mishaps at the channels.
This came a day after Transport PS Esther Koimett said the government has committed itself to improve the safety standards and services of the ferries.
Koimett said KFS will be better resourced as the government seeks to ensure Kenyans’ lives are not at risk when they use the ferries.
On Saturday, Gowa said the repair of the ferries will not affect the services as only one ferry will be taken for repair at a time.
“MV Nyayo will be the first. It takes more than four months to repair one ferry,” he said.
MV Harambee will then be repaired next before MV Kilindini follows.
He spoke during a press briefing at the Mbaraki wharf, where the KFS board was flanked by government spokesperson Cyrus Oguna.
Oguna dismissed speculations that the Kenya Navy team of divers might have interfered with the car that sunk on September 29 killing Mariam Kighenda, 35, and her four-year-old daughter Amanda Mutheu.
Their bodies were retrieved on Friday, 13 days later.
“There have been rumours that the Navy went down and interfered with the gear for compensation purposes. How can that happen? The way the car was when it sunk was the same way it was retrieved. The only difference is that there were two lives when it went in and the lives were no more when it came out,” Oguna said.
He said investigations have been launched into why the car slipped from the ferry and a report will be made public as soon as they are concluded.
Gowa, who spoke for the first time since September 30 when he made his first press conference after the tragedy, said they have learnt vital lessons since.
KFS will be stricter in enforcing the safety rules and regulations aboard the ferries. They will, however, embark on a sensitisation campaign on ferry safety for the public.
“We will focus more on enforcement. The biggest problem is people disregarding the safety rules and regulations while on the ferry,” he said.
He said some of the safety rules and regulations appear trivial or meaningless to commuters but they could save lives.
For instance, staying on the passenger lanes while on the ferry is a rule that is slowly being disregarded as people now want to stay where vehicles park on the ferries.
Vehicles are supposed to be switched off while on the ferry, with all occupants alighting from them, except the sick and the disabled.
He said more staff training on safety and response in emergencies would be done.
At the same time, the government rejected calls to have a diving team established at the KFS saying it will be a waste of resources as there are divers at the neighbouring Kenya Ports Authority and Kenya Navy, from where the KFS can seek services.
Oguna said the government has embraced a multi-agency cooperation approach where state institutions share expertise, equipment and skills.
This, he said, cuts costs and saves time.
“When you have a fire emergency at home, you cannot take a fire engine and station it permanently outside your house. You will only seek its services whenever it’s needed,” Oguna said on Saturday.
KFS has a life-saving unit, which will now go for higher-level training and be better equipped, but there will be no diving unit.
Oguna said KFS has a had a good safety record, with a major disaster like the recent tragedy occurring 25 years ago, when the MV Mtongwe ferry sunk on April 29, 1994, killing at least 270 people.
Edited by R.Wamochie