Thursday, March 28, 2024

Bungee jumping equipment safe, despite weekend accident-Lubinda

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Information, Broadcasting and Tourism Minister GIVEN LUBINDA
Information, Broadcasting and Tourism Minister GIVEN LUBINDA

GOVERNMENT has assured tourists visiting the Victoria Falls in Livingstone that the bungee jumping equipment at the falls is safe.

Minister of Information, Broadcasting and Tourism Given Lubinda said in an interview on Tuesday that tourists should not worry about the equipment as it has proven its reliability over the past years with only one mishap.

“The bungee has proven to be a very viable operation considering that more than 50,000 tourists jump on it every year. It has been in operation for 10 years. This is the first time I am hearing of an incident. The probability of an incident is one in 500,000 jumps,” he said.

Mr Lubinda was commenting on an incident where a 22-year-old Australian tourist plunged into the Zambezi River on Saturday after the bungee jumping cord snapped.

Southern Province commissioner of police Brenda Muntemba, who confirmed the incident, said the tourist managed to swim to the Zimbabwean side where she was treated and later evacuated to South Africa.

And Mr Lubinda said the safety record of the bungee jumping equipment at the falls is enough to guarantee tourists’ safety.

The minister, however, said he will soon engage the operator of the bungee jumping equipment, Bungee Extreme, to ensure the equipment is safer than it currently is.

“I myself will be engaging the operator on how we can make this exciting tourism event become totally incident-free,” Mr Lubinda said.

He said his ministry has already swung into action on the matter and that he is waiting for a report from his officers in Livingstone before further action can be taken.

[Zambia Daily Mail]

59 COMMENTS

  1. How many are going to go on it after this accident. Very unsafe! I am surprised the young lady managed to swim across with that current and water at that point.

  2. Ni ba Pilot ba Lubinda naimwe. Ladies and gentlemen, we have lost the left engine on our aircraft. However, sit back relax and enjoy your meal. We are 100 % safe. We will fly on two engines, the one on the tail and the right one. The weather is fine, Lusaka is also fine and we will be landing in 5 hours time.

  3. Thats the problem with kaladi,you are too quick to talk ,you are not expart on the matter .Why didn’t leave it to the operators to state the truth?Or better still you go and bungee jump yourself with all the cameras from ZNBC TV,MUVI TV,Post Shinda pepa etc at least you will restore confidence in the same.

    • Why be racist about the issue? If you have to criticise him just criticise him. Dont refer to his race. Whats that got to do with it?

  4. This was a very serious nearmiss, the best the minister can do, if he is to gain confidence from potential tourists, is to revoke the licence of this operator, find another one, ensure test runs are done every day and probably the minister should be the first one to jump once operatios resume – thats the way to gain confidence………..be practical.

  5. pipo,how do yu expect lubinda to jump there,my foot! that thing,oho! ask chief fimofimo from the south,he will give details.not even hh can try.

  6. If chief fimofimo could do it to “promote tourism” why cant the minister prove his point by jumping.
    Else we lose revenue.

  7. Given ask government inspectors or any other respectable organisation to conduct a safety check/audit. A report submitted to you or ministry of works and supply let this company carry out improvements as be safety recommendations from safety inspectors then issue a statement based on the report and any adjustments that will be made.Avoid bbwa bbwa bbwa bbwa otherwise you may not bring back the confidence in people on the safety of this very important tourist attraction event to Zambia.  This is a matter of live and death and must be handled proffesionally and not bbwa bbwa bbwa PF?

  8. it seriously had to take that incidence for somebody to look into the safety of that scary thing. I hope your behinds get seriously sued

  9. Mr Minister,i ask you be the first to test it after it has been worked on.That will definitely assure everybody that it is safe.

  10. tell the truth!
    no way she could swim after that…it is the water that carried her to shore, otherwise why treat her in zim then fly her to SA for more treatment

  11. Lubinda will replace the equipment ma Guys, why are you worried? He is he chief buyer, procurer, accountant etc. His company is at the Ghetto in Thornpark…

  12. How many people die or seriously injured each year from mountain biking, car accidents, skateboards, surfing…. you name it! It think you will find the statistics and the actual risks are a lot higher!
    These guys are experts and will have done everything they can to ensure they are safe. Hopefully the girl will be ok.

  13. A trial from the minister will be in order.at the cameras can capture that and more tourists both local and inter will troop in large numbers.myself i can’t.

  14. @ USING statistic”The bungee has proven to be very viable operation considering that more than 50000 tourist jump on it every year.it has been in operation for 10 years.This is the first time i am hearing of accident.The probability of an incident is one in 500000 jumps”

    First you need TAILOKA to teach simply probability.Second looking at the years it has been in service and load per year means the probability of accidents is higher now because of tear and wear.Free solution Bwana.Let them replace it, they have made enough in 10 years as you have mentioned that it is viable business.

  15. Yes ! A trial from the minister or better still the presdo is in order so that we see the reflexes of our bodyguards in case the same happening.

  16. This is purely commerce. Why would an entire representative of our government expose himself by guaranteeing the safety of this equipment. How trivial does it get honestly. Evidently this minister doesn’t have much work on his desk or has already forgotten why we put him and his colleagues in power…. Stupidness to say the least…  

  17. She did not swim to the shore because she is now paralysed, she hit a rock on her way down. the rope snapped after the first bounce. people had to rush down and pull her out. she was then rushed to zim and SA. she may never walk again.

    Once the equipment is repaired the Minister should give it a test run since the probability of it malfunctioning are 1 out of 500,000. that way he’ll give confidence to the rest of us who may want to try it out

  18. Those tourists certainly will not believe Lubinda, they would feel more comfortable with a statement from the Vice President, I mean that he is more senior.

  19. Iwe Sly you must never be put in our government. With such demands nothing will work. Ha! ha! ha! haaaaaaaaaaaa!

    • 50 000 jumps a year? At US$150 a pop (jump and video) that calculates to US$ 6 million to the bungee operator alone – No wonder Mr Lubinda is worried. But then assuming 8 hours operations for 365 days a year, 50 000 jumps come to a jump every 3 and a half minutes – May help explain the reason for failure…

  20. I think Mr Lubinda needs to explain how one can RESPONSIBLY claim the jump is safe if the cause of last week failure is not understood – Surely only after fully understanding the reasons of the failure and the implementation of mitigation actions can one make such claim (or is Mr Lubinda not disclosing everything he knows) – I suspect that improper procedure and/or maintenance will emerge as part of the root cause – Until such time as we know what went wrong I for one won’t take part in the Vic fall bungee jump

  21. The lady involved is a slim and fit 22 year old, Erin was extremely lucky to has survived, She was released from hospital yesterday and over time should fully recover from her injuries – Her personal plight is that the reasons need to be found and no one’s life should be exposed until such time that mitigating actions have been put in place to 100% guarantee reoccurance She was the 105’th jumper that day, so testing the rope with dummies as contemplated ny the operators won’t help.

    • So glad Erin has been released from hospital.
      I was there when the accident happened, saw everything. My brother was video recording Erin as she was about to jump.

      I will continue praying for her full recovery.

      By the way, if she is still in South Africa, is it possible to see her?

  22. Mr Lubinda claims 50 000 incident free jumps a year for last 10 years – Assuming US150 a pop (jump and video) that calculated to US$7,5million to the bungee operator alone – No wonder Mr Lubinda is concerned – But then, assuming 365 days a year , 8 hours operations a day, then 50000 calculated to a jump every 3 and half minutes – May help explain reason for incident

  23. This was a seriously accident bane swimming in Zambezi is that dangeriouse with ma crock all around. I am suprised i am here in Australia eating mac donaldand this Australian lady was bungee jumping in my country. We should thank the lady for making effort to swim in Zambezi . Even though you should admit Australian are good swimmers. If it was someone from a different country our comments could have been different ba Lu-Bin-Da;-) And what happened to chief fimofimo from the South? 

  24. I’d like to see this guy take a jump off the bridge with the same rope. Safe is it? This kind of response shows how politicians view the safety of visitors to their country and will turn people off visiting the area. This company should be closed at least until a proper safety review is carried out by an independant qualified inspector, not government officials.

  25. all well said .
    shame on that ompany to hide and not issue a communique ater the accident to indicate what they wil do to try avod another one . not hide behind stats if a muzungu dies the all of the tourist area will be affected and shoul be the hon . minister to enforce code of practice for operators not just give a blanket cover over something he may be has n ides of the impications ? dies the on minister knowstha law governing visitors coming from all the countries ? talk sense plz. then what about the ele phant accident ?

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