Local governments are being urged to strengthen water transport safety management following recent fatal accidents.

The Ministry of Communications and the State Administration of Work Safety issued the urgent circular after an overloaded boat sunk in a river on Wednesday. Twenty-eight people drowned in the accident in Yuechi of Sichuan Province in Southwest China.

In January, 12 people died when an overloaded boat sunk in Xinye County of Henan Province in Central China.

But administrations stressed that the safety of licensed passenger and cargo ships is improving.

The number of accidents caused by licensed passenger and transport ships dropped by about 5 per cent in the first two months of this year, compared with the same period in 2005. The death toll was 26 in the period, 72.6 per cent lower than the same time last year, according to the circular.

Overloaded boats that are originally registered for agricultural use and forbidden to carry passengers should be blamed for the recent fatal accidents, said the document.

To prevent more tragedies, the authorities urged local governments to draw lessons from the accidents and severely punish those who carry passengers illegally.

The document emphasised the proper use of boats in small towns and villages.

Governments at county level are being ordered to find those responsible for supervising and managing boats that are not supposed to carry passengers, and organize special crackdowns on those in breach of safety regulations. Safety issues concerning ferries and underwater projects were also mentioned in the circular.

(China Daily 03/18/2006 page2)