Madang yet to establish board

NO matter which or what laws are imposed, people will continue to suffer mishaps at sea if dinghies continue to be overloaded, run out of fuel and travel in bad weather, according to the National Maritime Safety Authority (NMSA).
Chief executive officer Paul Unas told The National: “Fourteen of the 15 maritime provinces have now established small craft registration boards and Madang is the only province that has not established a board yet.”
He said NMSA had been encouraging and offering training and financial and material support to the Madang government over the last six years.
Despite numerous commitments from leaders in the province, a board was yet to be established, Unas said.
He said this was despite a legal requirement under the Small Craft Act for the Madang government to establish a board.
“This is a serious concern as the Madang waters are the most dangerous in the country,” Unas said.
“On a population basis, the people of Madang are six times more likely to go missing at sea compared with the other 14 provinces.”
Unas said the authority had provided training, administrative support, office refurbishment, information technology equipment, awareness sessions and 10,000 small craft safety brochures, posters and booklets to the Madang government to be distributed.
It was the provincial government’s responsibility to implement the Act and NMSA was to look after the six locations outside Port Moresby and, therefore, NMSA was not in a position to implement and enforce the Small Craft Act nationally, he said.