Admin l Saturday, July 10, 2021
MALALE, Borgu, Niger – Not less than 350 Nigerians have been killed in boat mishaps, Chairman of the Governing Council of the Hydroelectric Power Producing Area Development Commission, HYPPADEC, Mr. Joseph Ityav has said.
Joseph Ityav, who was speaking in Malale, Borgu, Niger State at the flag-off of the cutting of tree logs and removal of huge debris on Kainji and Shiroro lakes said the accident occurred in 2020. He said the project is being executed in partnership with the National Inland Waterways Corporation, NIWC.
The HYPPADEC chairman blamed most of the mishaps on poor conditions of boats, overloading, unavailability of life jackets and the preponderance of tree logs on the waterways. According to him, cutting of the tree logs and removal of debris would reduce boat mishaps and the hardships in the riverine communities.
In his remarks, Alhaji Abubakar Yelwa, Managing Director of HYPPADEC, said the Commission would address ecological and environmental issues and loss of lives, which resulted from the construction of the Kainji and Shiroro dams. Kainji Dam, he said was constructed on River Niger in 1964 at a cost of $209 million and was inaugurated in 1968, while Shiroro Dam was constructed also in River Niger, in Kaduna State, southwest of Abuja in 1983.
He ommended President Muhammadu Buhari and the National assembly for signing the Act setting up HYPPADEC, which began operations in 2020 to address challenges of impacted communities.
