by KEVIN PAMBA
Risks at seas are part of the business
LAST Thursday, I went to Kumbukam,
about an hour’s drive up the North Coast Road from Madang town.
This is where dinghies arrive from and take off to Karkar Island.
It is in its own way, a busy ‘little port’ for people travelling
to and from Karkar Island.
Employees of government, churches, NGOs and even business people
use dinghies servicing Karkar and Kumbukam.
It is a PMV service – but without licence or monitoring.
I drove to Kumbukam to observe the mood and reaction of the
travelling public following a dinghy accident six days earlier.
The Madang provincial disaster and emergency office reported last
week that a dinghy en route to Karkar from Kumbukam struck
disaster in rough seas at about 5.30pm on Jan 5.
Otto Avorosi, the acting director of the office said yesterday
that 16 people were involved and not 15 as reported earlier.
Mr Avorosi said six people (and not five as reported earlier) were
still missing and are “feared dead”.
Eight people were rescued by a passing ship and two others were
confirmed dead.
Upon arriving at Kumbukam, the atmoshere looked normal as though
nothing tragic had happened.
The sea around the Kumbukam cove was innocently calm. The still
waters belied the tragedy that struck the 23-foot dinghy only six
days earlier.
The folks I spoke to here were unperturbed. Even Sumi Liag, the
crew member of the dinghy I travelled on the Karkar last month was
not bothered.
Sumi had one explanation of the boat tragedies that occur from
time to time.
“An accident can happen when the skipper of the dinghy is
inexperienced or panics in rough seas.”
Sumi’s other explanation was overloading – dinghies that overload
are likely to face problems out in the open sea when it is rough.
Sumi was waiting for the passengers of his boat to Karkar, who
would arrive from Madang town.
The small mix of local folks, skippers and crews of dinghies,
betelnut traders and passengers to Karkar went about their normal
business.
The dinghy ferry business is quite a lucrative grassroots
enterprise.
The dinghy operators operating between Karkar and Kumbukam charge
K20 per passenger. Often the dinghies start from Karkar in the
morning, so it is a return fare of K40. The dinghies then have to
wait for their passengers at Kumbukam for them to return from
Madang town after completing their businesses.
The dinghies operating between Rai Coast and Madang town charge
K50 one way.
According to Sumi, a 19-foot dinghy like the one he works on can
carry 13 passengers without cargo. A dinghy taking 13 passengers
to and from Karkar makes K520.
When cargo, which is charged separately, is included, Sumi said
passenger numbers had to be reduced.
Whether the dinghy operators are strict with their loading is
doubtful, given the continuous reports that one of the main causes
of the accidents is overloading.
The dinghy operators at Kumbukam have no way of determining the
weight of the passengers and cargo in comparison with the capacity
of the dinghy and the motor.
The operators do it in their heads – they just estimate from
mental caculations.
Their ignorance adds to the lack of safety equipment that by law
is supposed to be on passenger ferrying vessels.
The disaster and emergency office in Madang has long campaigned
against the manner in which the dinghy owners operate.
It has been calling for people to operate withing the laws and
listen to formal advice from authorities when travelling out at
sea.
Despite all the warning and advice, people continue to die at sea
under preventable circumstances.
One reason the people take the risk is the necessity of survival
in the modern era, as discussed here last month.
But the fact that someone is a maritime person, born and raised by
the sea, is no guarantee for safety on high seas on a hapless
motorised dinghy.
The dugout canoes of the ancestors only travelled short distances
– that is not the same.
The ancestors travelled farther when necessary on purpose-built
canoes and after studying the weather and the time of the year.
The sea and the weather is not the same as what the ancestors had
all those ages ago.
With global warming, scientists say, the weather patterns and the
behaviour of the sea are changing.
These considerations seem to escape our maritime folks or they
simply are ignorant as they continue to risk their lives.
