Boat-law delay a worry

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By DOROTHY MARK
Delay in the endorsement of the Small Craft Act by the Madang executive council is bad for the province, according to the provincial maritime transport board.
Board inspector Captain Pascal Yali said it was now up to the council to endorse the act.
Yali said the establishment of the act would require all outboard-motor dinghies to be registered and equipped with safety equipment like life jackets.
Dinghy operators and crew would also undergo training and have licences similar to drivers and crews of public transport vehicles operating on land.
“The estimated annual internal revenue small crafts would generate is K3 milllion because we have more dinghies operating in Madang,” Yali said.
Madang disaster and emergency officer assistant director Rudolf Mongallee said registering dinghies and equipping them with basic lifesaving equipment would benefit the province.
He said it would not only raise the province’s internal revenue but reduce the high number of accidents and casualties at sea.
Yali said dinghies and operators involved in piracy and other criminal activities could be tracked down and arrested since all dinghies and operators would be issued registration and licences.
Meanwhile, Madang police are investigating the death of a woman whose body was found floating in the sea outside Riwo village.
The woman and her husband had gone fishing last Tuesday night when a speeding dinghy ran over them, ripping their canoe, police said.
Her husband survived but the woman drowned.