The government has embarked on establishing a marine rescue station in the Lake Victoria region to address all emergency issues in the water body.
The station will facilitate emergency search and rescue services, transport and trade on the lake by improving maritime transport infrastructure, including maritime communications, navigation aids and inland waterways.
Fishermen and other lake users, including traders, have often found themselves between a rock and a hard place as they are unable to get assistance when accidents occur in the lake.
It normally takes up to five hours for rescue boats to arrive at an accident scene. This often happens when lives are already lost.
It is estimated that between 3,000 and 5,000 emergency cases are reported in the lake every year in the three East African countries, according to the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA).
To mitigate this, the government, through the Ministry of Transport, has begun establishing an emergency search and rescue station on Rusinga Island in Homa Bay County that will help address threats in Lake Victoria.
On Tuesday, Principal Secretary in the State Department of Shipping and Maritime Nancy Karigithu officially received a half-acre piece of land in Mbita from Homa Bay County Secretary Isaiah Ogwe, on behalf of the county government, where the station will be built.
County Fisheries and Agriculture Executive Aguko Juma and County Beach Management Unit Network Chairman Edward Oremo were among the witnesses during the signing of documents for transfer of the land from the county to the national government.
Ms Karigithu said the station, which will have a clinic to attend to patients, will be among similar stations that will be distributed around the lake under the Multinational Lake Victoria Maritime Communication and Transport (MLVMCT) project.
"Similar projects will be undertaken in counties bordering the lake, including Kisumu, Migori (Sori), Bondo (Wichlum) and Busia (Mulukoba)," she said.
Each centre will be equipped with fast rescue boats and trained crew who will be on standby 24 hours to respond to any emergencies arising in the lake.
At the station, piers will be built where rescue boats which act as water ambulances will dock.
“We have not established the exact cost of this project because a feasibility study is still ongoing. It involves dredging and that varies from one location to another. Our top priority is to minimise the number of fatalities that occur in the lake due to boat accidents,” Ms Karigithu said.
Homa Bay boasts of the largest share of the lake on the Kenyan side. It is also the top producer of fish in the country.
Mr Ogwe said the station will enable Homa Bay County to improve its fishing activities and promote the blue economy.
"I appeal to fishermen to accord the implementers of this project an opportunity to do it successfully. They are the main beneficiaries of this initiative," he said.
Mr Juma appealed to KMA, which is undertaking the project, to establish another station within Homa Bay County that will help in addressing challenges in the lake arising from other regions.
Mr Oremo said the station will reduce pressure on fishermen who have always had to rush to rescue their colleagues when accidents occur in the lake.
During the event, KMA announced plans to engage in corporate social responsibility activities which will benefit the local fishing community.
