Our Reporter 

No fewer than 350 lives were lost to boat mishaps across the country last year, according to the Chairman, Governing Council of the Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC), Mr.Joseph Ityav.

Ityav blamed most of the mishaps on poor conditions of boats, overloading, non-availability of life jackets and the preponderance of tree logs on the waterways.

He spoke yesterday while flagging-off the cutting of tree logs and removal of huge debris on Kainji and Shiroro Lakes at Malale in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State.

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He said that the cutting of the tree logs and removal of debris would reduce boat mishaps and the hardships faced by riverine communities.

He said the project was being executed in partnership with the National Inland Waterways Corporation.

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 was constructed on River Niger in 1964 at a cost of $209 million and was inaugurated in 1968.

Shiroro Dam was constructed also on the River Niger, in Kaduna State, southwest of Abuja in 1983.