Dinghy makers warned

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By HELEN TARAWA
COMMERCIAL manufacturers and distributors of dinghies and outboard motors have been warned to comply with requirements of the Small Crafts Act.
Chairman of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee and Bogia MP John Hickey sounded the warning at an inquiry into the National Maritime and Safety Authority yesterday.
He said those manufacturers who were making dinghies knew that what they were doing was wrong which could cause the loss of lives at sea.
Hickey said failure to comply would result in a fine of up to K100,000.
“I would like to send a message to any commercial makers of dinghies in the country that as of now, we will be watching them,” he said.
“If they produce a product that doesn’t meet the requirements of the Act, we will definitely take action.
“The makers of these dinghies should be liable.
“If these dinghies are not constructed according to the Act, they should be liable for loss of life.”
Hickey said there was an urgent need for the inquiry and which was more important than others because it was of national interest. “We are concerned about people dying at sea, getting drowned at sea, children, women drowning at sea because of safety issue and its small craft,” Hickey said.
“We are losing lives on a regular basis and there’re lots of lives being lost all the time in the provinces.
“There are makers of dinghies in PNG that do not meet the safety requirement and we are very concerned about this.
“When the manufacturer makes the products, he has got to stamp his mark on it which will be a registration number, manufacturing number, date and necessary information, and that’s stamped into the dinghy.
“If they make something and somebody dies in that something that they make, they should be liable for that loss of life.”
The committee, during its inquiry, summoned the National Maritime Safety Authority to provide two reports on the rehabilitation of markers and beacons project, and the VHF network project.
Hickey said the committee had also asked for the reports from provincial governments.
He said they would reconvene next month.