• Safety measures should be put up and response teams should be close by in case of emergencies.
• Each ferry should be assigned four divers instead of bouncers.
It was sad that the lives of a Mariam Kighenda and her daughter Amanda Mutheu had to be lost at the Likoni channel.
It is high time the Likoni ferry management put in place measures which will avert future tragedies. Kenya Ferry Services should repair the ramps immediately to avoid any more misfortune. Up to now, they have not been repaired.
All drivers entering the ferry should park their vehicle and come out. Let KFS also employ in each ferry four divers instead of disco bouncers and every ferry user educated on safety inside the ferry. The national government could also start certificate and diploma courses at Bandari College and relax qualifications.
Both levels of government should sponsor divers to the college and employ them as divers are regularly being sought because of constant deaths as a result of flash floods in Kenya. All Kenya ferry employees should be trained to dive and swim. There are freelance divers well known in Mombasa, their names should be fed into the system and retrained to avoid seeking divers from other countries.
They can be tasked with teaching diving and swimming skills certificate level. The Kenya Coast Guard Service was established to ensure safety in Kenya’s territorial waters, safeguarding ports and prevention of dumping of harmful wastes and pollutants into the waters. It was also meant to offer search and rescue services and prevent illegal commercial activities like in Kenyan waters.
They were nowhere to be found. The KFS, Kenya Navy, Kenya Coast Guard services, South Engineering Company and Seafarers Association should come together and form an association of divers and swimmers to help when such a tragedy occurs or prevent a repeat of the same in future.
Mombasa