BY MAURICE ALAL
@alalmaurice
The Sh470 million Railways Marine School in Kisumu will admit its first students in May as the government seeks to build human capacity for port operations.
The renovated Sh3 billion Kisumu port is expected to be officially opened by President Uhuru Kenyatta in October.
The construction of the school was funded by the World Bank through the Kenya Transport Sector Support Programme in partnership with the government.
Railway Training Institute director Milly Kizili said the ultra-modern facility is set to offer training courses geared towards building human capacity in the maritime industry.
Kizili said the school has the capacity to admit 1,000 students. She spoke during a tour of the facility on Monday. It also has a firefighting training facility.
The school has an eight-metre deep swimming pool to train seafarers, standard hostels for 160 students, a four-star hotel with 120-bed capacity and conference facilities.
Phase will see classrooms, libraries and a resource centre put up.
Kizili sensitised stakeholders on the school’s courses and facilities in readiness for the official opening.
The institute is expected to play a key role in fostering regional integration through training and enhance trade among the East African Community countries.
"We target to train students across the country and from the neighbouring countries. We will no longer send our students to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to train as seafarers,” she said.
The Railway Training Institute - Marine School was rebuilt as part of the revamp at Kisumu Port which has been renovated at a cost of Sh3 billion.
Kizili said the school has adopted the Kenya Maritime Authority syllabus to equip and certify Lake Victoria vessel operators with skills and competencies in safety, protection and preservation of the marine environment.
With the new institute, Kizili said Kenya will maintain its high ranking at the International Maritime Organisation.
The facility will also help in the transformation of the country into a middle-income economy as outlined in vision 2030.
Currently, the institute is offering various courses including Coxswain Level 3, Diploma in International Freight Management and Certificate in Maritime Transport Operations with more courses lined up as it expands.
Kizili said she was optimistic that the Nakuru-Kisumu railway track will be operational by April. "We expect it to help in revamping economic activities and regional trade," she said.
The Kisumu port renovation is part of the government's plan to revamp the once vibrant trading hub in the East Africa Community.
Apart from the port, the Kenya Railways has also rehabilitated the 217-kilometre Nakuru-Kisumu rail line at Sh3.8 billion.
The rehabilitation works being undertaken by the Kenya Defence Forces are complete. The project is expected to be handed over to Kenya Railways this month.
Currently, the Kenya Navy is also assembling a big ship at the port at an estimated cost of Sh1.2 billion. The port is also linked to the Kenya Pipeline's 45 million litre-capacity Kisumu jetty to facilitate fuel transportation.
It's anticipated that the port will reduce congestion on roads where trucks are used to ferry fuel into Uganda.
Edited by P.O