The Minister of Transport, Mr Mike Hammah, says the government would establish a fund to be spent on a programme that would ensure safety on the Volta Lake. He said this in an address read for him by his Deputy, Mrs Dzifa Attivor, at the launch of the Volta Lake Enhancement Project on "Promoting Safe Travel on the Lake" at Tapa-Abotoase. He appealed to district assemblies along the Volta Lake and other stakeholders to contribute to the fund that would be used to train the youth to serve as lifeguards at landing sites and provide search and rescue services. According to Mr Hammah, the fund would also be used to step up education for operators, passengers, and to assist boat owners acquire modern and safer boats. He said the government could not stand aloof to watch commuters perish unnecessarily on the lake. Mr Hammah mentioned measures being taken to include the acquisition of modern rivercrafts such as economy cross-lake passenger ferries and long-term creation of lake traffic control units or "water police". He said search and rescue coordination centres equipped with logistics and communication gadgets, acquisition of patrol boats to ensure safety and provision of suitable charts for navigation, training and licensing of boat operators are being considered. These notwithstanding, Mr Hammah said investigations conducted so far attributes major causes of accidents on the Lake to overloading, drunkenness, poor boat design, construction defects and lack of safety equipment. Others are physical obstruction to navigation by tree stumps and fishing nets, bad weather and general lack of satisfactory lake transportation infrastructure and navigational aids. He commended efforts of the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA), Ghana Navy and the Volta Lake Transport Company (VLTC) in implementing lake safety measures and establishing six major stations at Yeji, Dzemeni, Kpando Torkor, Abotoase, Dambai and Kete-Krachi. Mr Hammah said the GMA and the Regional Maritime University has equipped 872 boat operators and mechanics with competencies and skills awaiting certification and licensing, all targeted at injecting sanity into lake transportation. He commended the initiative of Zoomlion/Zoil which he declared full support for and invited other potential collaborators to join. Mr Manu on his part added that through the implementation of this project "we believe a lasting and effective solution would be found to reduce the perennial occurrence of accidents on the Volta Lake. Source: GNA