Parliament of Uganda on Tuesday declared Friday, November 30, as a day of national mourning as the country remembers the victims of the Lake Victoria board accident, the Deputy Speaker, Jacob Oulanyah has said.
This follows the referral of Bududa landslides from the day’s order paper to create room for debate on Uganda’s Water Transport regulations in the light of Saturday’s accident that has so far claimed 33 people with over 60 still unaccounted for.
According to the legislators, the government has taken no serious initiative in setting up training institutions for ship operators especially Captains and Skippers.
The Kyadondo East MP, Robert Kyagulanyi who volunteered his boats to aid in rescuing the victims said; “Even when Police and UPDF came to rescue people, they didn’t have enough boats urging the government to improve the standards of water vessels to avoid reoccurrence of such accidents.”
The Minister for Works Eng. Monica Ntege Azuba was also called to make a statement, said that security agencies have been ordered to arrest anyone found operating any vessel without operator licenses and lifesaving appliances.
She further cautioned the general public to always take personal responsibility for their safety by using lifesaving kits and avoiding vessels without statutory certifications like operator licenses.