One finds oneself joining the people of Likoma in heaving a sigh of relief following the resumption of reliable marine transport. There are those who would want people of the district — which comprises Likoma and Chizumulu islands — to celebrate the development, but one needs to understand why relief should be the overriding feeling. We should not have been in this situation in the first place.
Likoma is part of this country and it is government’s duty to ensure that all its people have access to the most basic facilities of which transportation is one. To have people of the district disconnected from the rest of the country for 10 months as was the case before the most recent break is a serious abdication from duty by government because these people need reliable transport at all times.
It must be pointed out that there are people of other districts as well that get affected with problems that come with the absence of reliable water transport, but the difference is that the other people have alternative means of transport. For people of Likoma, there is no such luxury and in very desperate circumstances, people opt for exorbitant and yet unreliable alternatives in order to link up with the mainland.
Of course, it was not government’s fault that the MV Ilala was off the waters. The vessel had problems and it had to be worked on, but what the situation shows is that there has been no alternative to the ship for some time. Now that is government’s problem because it was supposed to ensure that there is plan B where problems arise with the existing vessel.
Which is why it is commendable to note that work has already started to ensure that there are two more ships plying Lake Malawi. Eight months is a long way off for the first one to set sail and one hopes there are no further problems with MV Ilala in the intervening period. What must appreciated, however, is that practical moves are being to made ensure that what people of Likoma have experienced over the past year does not happen again — ever.
