140 Lifeguards, boat operators end training, page 45
ONE hundred and forty lifeguards and boat operators plying the Volta Lake last Friday graduated from a life-saving skills training programme.
To equip the participants with the needed skills to discharge their duties and contribute to safety on the Volta Lake, they were taken through subjects such as boat work, survival at sea, life-saving, communication, first aid and fire fighting.
They also received training in physical training and drill to improve fitness and teamwork.
The course forms part of interventions under the Volta Lake Transport Enhancement Programme (VLTEP) rolled out by Zoil Services Limited, in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport.
Since its inception, about 300 lifeguards have been trained, in addition to the provision of 25,000 life jackets, by Zoil at various landing sites, while boats for fishermen have been refurbished, all aimed at curbing the perennial accidents on the lake.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony, the Deputy Minister of Transport, Mrs Dzifa Attivor, said since the inception of the programme, the lifeguards who had been trained had exhibited "the life-saving skills they have acquired in their various regions with a record of over 1,000 lives saved over the past three years”.
While commending the trainees for their endurance and enthusiasm during the session, she entreated boat operators to practise the training they had received, so that they, together with the lifeguards, could help ensure safety on the lake.
She decried observations made by supervisors of the project that "there was little co-operation between the lifeguards and boat operators with regard to the enforcement of rules on safety on the lake".
In that regard, Mrs Attivor urged the lifeguards to share their knowledge with their colleagues who did not get the opportunity to benefit from the programme.
The Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) the Eastern Naval Base, Commander E.A. Bonsu, said even though the participants had received good training, their effectiveness depended, to a large extent, on the availability of the right facilities and equipment.
He, therefore, entreated Zoil and all who had interest in safety on the country's water bodies to ensure that the trainees had ready access to the needed equipment, so that they could put their skills to good use.
He also had some advice for the participants: "You will need to exhibit a high level of discipline and sense of responsibility, dedication and commitment to duty because it is on the back of these core values that safety on the Volta Lake can be improved to the benefit of the nation."
The National Coordinator of the VLTEP, Mrs Rhoda Donkor, in a speech read on her behalf, said as part of strategies to ensure that the project delivered maximum results, Zoil was rolling out a series of training and educational programmes for communities along the Volta Lake.
The project, she stated, would have trainers visiting the various communities along the lake to educate residents through their local authorities and demonstrate to them the effectiveness of the use of life jackets.
The creation of the Volta Lake in 1965 resulted in a situation where the inhabitants of settler communities along the lake depended exclusively on lake transportation for their social and economic activities. Over the years, however, accidents on the lake have become rampant.
Fifty bodies, including those of schoolchildren, were recovered from the lake after a boat accident which occurred near the Amevloikope Island in 2004.
A similar accident occurred in June 1999 when 76 people drowned in the lake, while in 2009 a repeated incident took 24 lives when a boat carrying passengers returning from a funeral at Wusuta Kpebe capsized.
Last year, 35 people, mainly traders, died after their boat capsized on the Volta Lake.
The trainees, made up of 107 lifeguards and 31 boat operators drawn from the Volta, Eastern, Northern, Brong Ahafo, Greater Accra and Western regions, underwent the two-week intensive course at the Tema Eastern Naval Base.
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| A section of the trainees in a jubilant mood |
They also received training in physical training and drill to improve fitness and teamwork.
The course forms part of interventions under the Volta Lake Transport Enhancement Programme (VLTEP) rolled out by Zoil Services Limited, in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport.
Since its inception, about 300 lifeguards have been trained, in addition to the provision of 25,000 life jackets, by Zoil at various landing sites, while boats for fishermen have been refurbished, all aimed at curbing the perennial accidents on the lake.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony, the Deputy Minister of Transport, Mrs Dzifa Attivor, said since the inception of the programme, the lifeguards who had been trained had exhibited "the life-saving skills they have acquired in their various regions with a record of over 1,000 lives saved over the past three years”.
While commending the trainees for their endurance and enthusiasm during the session, she entreated boat operators to practise the training they had received, so that they, together with the lifeguards, could help ensure safety on the lake.
She decried observations made by supervisors of the project that "there was little co-operation between the lifeguards and boat operators with regard to the enforcement of rules on safety on the lake".
In that regard, Mrs Attivor urged the lifeguards to share their knowledge with their colleagues who did not get the opportunity to benefit from the programme.
The Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) the Eastern Naval Base, Commander E.A. Bonsu, said even though the participants had received good training, their effectiveness depended, to a large extent, on the availability of the right facilities and equipment.
He, therefore, entreated Zoil and all who had interest in safety on the country's water bodies to ensure that the trainees had ready access to the needed equipment, so that they could put their skills to good use.
He also had some advice for the participants: "You will need to exhibit a high level of discipline and sense of responsibility, dedication and commitment to duty because it is on the back of these core values that safety on the Volta Lake can be improved to the benefit of the nation."
The National Coordinator of the VLTEP, Mrs Rhoda Donkor, in a speech read on her behalf, said as part of strategies to ensure that the project delivered maximum results, Zoil was rolling out a series of training and educational programmes for communities along the Volta Lake.
The project, she stated, would have trainers visiting the various communities along the lake to educate residents through their local authorities and demonstrate to them the effectiveness of the use of life jackets.
The creation of the Volta Lake in 1965 resulted in a situation where the inhabitants of settler communities along the lake depended exclusively on lake transportation for their social and economic activities. Over the years, however, accidents on the lake have become rampant.
Fifty bodies, including those of schoolchildren, were recovered from the lake after a boat accident which occurred near the Amevloikope Island in 2004.
A similar accident occurred in June 1999 when 76 people drowned in the lake, while in 2009 a repeated incident took 24 lives when a boat carrying passengers returning from a funeral at Wusuta Kpebe capsized.
Last year, 35 people, mainly traders, died after their boat capsized on the Volta Lake.
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