ZOIL, Transport Ministry train boat operators and life guards

ZOIL Services Limited, a subsidiary of Zoomlion Company Limited, in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport has trained a total of 138 rescuers as part of the Volta Lake Transport Enhancement Project (VLTEP).

The graduates, who were made up of 31 Boat Operators and 107 Life Guards undertook a two-week intensive courses in; boat work, survival at sea, lifesaving communication, first aid and fire fighting and physical training and drill.

They were drawn from the Volta, Eastern, Northern, Brong Ahafo, Greater Accra and Western regions where the Volta lake provides means of transport to a number of communities.

Mrs Dzifa Attivor, Deputy Minister of Transport in an address said apart from the training programme, government had also outlined plans to train more life guards to ensure total safety on river, lake and sea transport in the country.

She said more than 1000 lives had been saved under the programme in the past three years and called for effective collaboration between the boat operators and life guards to step up security and safety measures at the area.

Mrs Attivor commended Zoil Services Limited, Ghana Navy, Ghana Maritime Authority and other stakeholders for their efforts at training the graduates to make perennial accidents on the Volta lake the thing of the past.

Mrs Rhoda Donkor, National Coordinator of VLTEP in a speech read on her behalf said the project had since 2009 distributed 3000 life jackets and trained 300 life guards and expressed the hoped the training of boat operators would further boost their bid to ensure safety on the lake.

She called on the graduates to exhibit high level of professionalism in their rescue operations and duties to repose some confidence in commuters on the rivers, sea and lakes.

Commodore E. A Bonsu, Commander of the Eastern Naval Command appealed to government to provide the graduates with the necessary equipment and logistics to enhance their performance at various locations.

Source: GNA