GMA provides life jackets to boost Oti River safety
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The Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) gave 300 life jackets to boat operators and fishers in Dambai, Ghana, to improve safety on the Oti River and reduce deaths.
The GMA distributed the life jackets equally among three groups: the Boat Owners and Operators Association-Dambai, A1 Boats, and the Inland Canoe Fishers Association. This donation was part of the GMA’s Life Jackets for Safety and Livelihood Initiative, which helps inland waterway operators buy life jackets with affordable monthly payments.
Captain Kodjo Adjarko Osei of the GMA explained that the high cost of life jackets often prevented operators from following water safety rules. The GMA hopes this initiative will support the enforcement of its “No Life Jacket, No Sailing” rule, which it began enforcing earlier this year with its Safety Guards Programme. Safo Nketiah, the Krachi East Municipal Chief Executive, thanked the GMA for protecting residents who depend on the waterways for their jobs.
Nearly 40 percent of people in Dambai work on the lake, so life jackets are important for both safety and the local economy. The boat operators and fishers who received the life jackets said the donation would make the Oti River safer and promised to use the equipment and follow safety rules.
