“No new laws are needed.”
Minister of Works and Infrastructure Jearlean John has defended existing marine safety regulations, arguing that enforcement and personal responsibility go hand in hand when it comes to marine safety.
“As it is right now, I am satisfied with the Institute of Marine Affairs in terms of their coverage, particularly of the party boats, where you know that could be an issue in waiting, but they have 100%.”
Speaking with reporters outside Parliament ahead of Friday’s sitting of the House of Representatives, Minister John maintained that the current legislative framework governing small marine vessels is adequate, despite calls for stricter regulations following the fatal boat collision in Chaguaramas.
She pointed to the safety measures implemented during the Tobago Carnival period as evidence of the Government’s ongoing commitment to protecting passengers and operators on the nation’s waterways.
“We really went beyond the call of duty literally if there’s anything like that to ensure that folks understood just to ensure they went to Tobago with licensed vessels, not with little pirogues from all the little coastline areas and so on environments, right? So we really try our best to ensure the people’s safety internal marine safety using the the Institute of Marine Affairs we have a 100% check on party boats.”
The Minister maintained that enforcement and personal responsibility are equally critical to preventing future tragedies.
“We have a lot of advisories going out and so on. But wherever we can make a further difference, but of course there’s also something called personal responsibility here. You could have all the laws, all the regulations. We have to take ourselves seriously and our role seriously as partners.”
Minister John also commended the work of the Coast Guard, which responded swiftly to the incident.
“I think up to yesterday, the Minister of Defence, he was in Cabinet looking for additional equipment to ensure all,whether it’s a search and rescue or recovery, whatever it is, that they had everything possible, all of the equipment possible to do their jobs and bring comfort to the family, at least peace, however that shows up.”
The Minister said focus remains on strengthening enforcement, public awareness and safety practices on the nation’s waterways to protect lives at sea.