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Project Elea will unfold in four phases, with Phase I focusing on vocational skills training and prototype production
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The 500 youth and women sponsored by KMA will undergo vocational training and NITA certification in tailoring, embroidery and garment design
Image: HANDOUT
The Kenya Maritime Authority has launched a project to empower 500 youth to locally manufacture life jackets.
This comes as the world prepares to commemorate the World Maritime Day on Thursday.
The four-year Project Elea seeks to boost production and availability of affordable, high-quality, locally-made life jackets.
It will be piloted in select counties and will equip the youth to manufacture and sell 500,000 life jackets, reducing the country’s reliance on imports and saving on foreign exchange.
KMA director general Martin Dzombo, emphasised the need for local production, saying the country is spending millions to import life jackets and other life-saving appliances.
“Yet, tailoring—a basic skill—can be harnessed to produce these jackets locally,” he said.
Project Elea will unfold in four phases, with Phase I focusing on vocational skills training and prototype production, in collaboration with the National Industrial Training Authority.
The 500 youth and women sponsored by KMA will undergo vocational training and NITA certification in tailoring, embroidery and garment design to prepare them for life-jackets production.
Participants from Kilifi, Kwale, Lamu, Mombasa and Turkana counties should be aged between 18 and 25, have a KCSE mean grade of at least D and prior tailoring experience.
Phase II of the project involves industrial attachment, coordinated by NITA, to give trainees hands-on experience.
In Phase III, the trainees will begin manufacturing the life jackets.
“During Phase III, KMA will require trainees from each county to form Saccos, through which we will help set up production facilities to ensure the manufacture of standard quality life jackets and maintain oversight of production standards,” Dzombo said.
The final phase of Project Elea will focus on marketing and distribution.
KMA will support the trainees to promote and supply the life jackets both within Kenya and across East Africa.
The Kenya Maritime Authority estimates that more than 20,000 small vessels are actively involved in socio-economic activities along the Kenyan coast and in its inland waters, including Lakes Victoria, Turkana, Naivasha, Baringo and Nakuru.
Boats are also operated on rivers such as Tana and Nyando, as well as major dams such as Masinga.
Despite KMA's ongoing efforts to enforce safety regulations, accidents at sea and in lakes—often caused by human error or environmental factors—continue to result in loss of life.
Much of which could be prevented if passengers, vessel operators and fishers consistently wore life jackets.
A key challenge to maritime safety has been the lack of affordable, high-quality life jackets in the local market.
KMA’s statutory role includes enforcing safety standards for vessels and passengers, conducting regular inspections to ensure compliance and regulating shipping activities in inland waterways to uphold safety in navigation.