NAIROBI, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- The East African Community (EAC) member states plan to spend approximately 27 million U.S. dollars to improve safety in Lake Victoria, an official said on Tuesday.
Kenya's Ministry of East Africa Community Affairs Labour and Social Protection Director of Infrastructure Services Alfred Kitolo told journalists in Nairobi that the funds will be used to establish 16 search and rescue centers along Africa's largest lake that borders Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
"The Lake Victoria Maritime Communication project also seeks to extend the mobile communication to a radius of 60 km inside the lake," Kitolo said.
He said the lake plays a vital role in the region as a major transport corridor and helps to promote intra-EAC trade.
Out of the 27 million dollars, seven million will be a grant from multilateral donors while the rest will be contributed by partner states.
EAC members include Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. The project aims to reduce deaths from boat accidents that claim more than 1,000 lives annually.
Kitolo said a Maritime Rescue Communication Centre will also be set up in line with the requirements of the International Maritime Organization to respond to distress calls in the lake.
"We want to ensure that our rescuers can locate victims of boats accidents in time," he said. Once the project is fully operational, it allows cooperation with the national meteorology organizations in order to issue weather alerts.
