Lamu Governor Fahim Twaha at a past event. [Photo/nation.co.ke]
Lamu Governor Fahim Twaha now says his administration will ensure all boats in the county are fitted with radio call devices.
According to Twaha, the devices will come in handy during emergencies as his administration moves to promote maritime safety and enable timely rescue.He also sounded the alarm over the number of accidents at sea over the past few months.“In June we lost 10 people from an accident at sea. This month, our colleague lost an entire family at sea and that’s very unfortunate,” Twaha said on Sunday as quoted by the Star.His office, he added, has begun talks with the Kenya Maritime Authority office in Lamu to boost patrols to improve safety at sea.He made the remarks when he waived off loans in terms of fishing equipment given to fishermen by the former administration led by ex-governor Issa Timamy.The equipment included boat engines, fishing gear and cold storage facilities and was bought and loaned to the fishermen at a fee. Most of the fishermen, the daily added, had not completed repaying.He faulted Timamy’s administration for loaning the equipment instead of giving it for free to the fishermen.“How do you make someone pay for something that already belongs to them? The county government is supposed to help and not loan,” said the county boss.