Bomet Governor Dr Hillary Barchok has appealed to Ministry of Education to introduce safety management programmes at Vocational Training institutes to enable divers to get formal employment.
The governor said despite divers playing a critical role in saving lives in our water bodies, it was difficult for county governments to employ them.
Dr. Berchok made the remarks Monday at Mulot town near River Mara at the border of Narok and Bomet counties during the passing out parade of 26 divers who had undergone a one month upgrading training on life safety at water bodies and body retrievals.
“We are today witnessing the graduation of the up scaling skills of Bomet divers who have undergone thorough training specializing in saving lives and retrieving of the bodies from water,” Dr Barchok said.
He said that the skills gained will go a long way in saving lives not only of Bomet residents but also nationally if called upon.
“Our divers are on call contracts by the department of disaster management but we are unable to employ them since they do not fall under any cluster of service of the laid down procedure of the Public Service Commission,” he revealed.
The Governor pointed out that despite the huge experiences the divers gained the county government has challenges in providing safety Kits and other related equipment due to budgetary constraints.
“Despite the changes we are facing financially we have procured a toll free line, 0800720562, which will enable the citizenry make free calls in case of any emergency, within the County,” Dr. Barchok announced.
The training programme was sponsored by the Red Cross Society of Kenya, Selvage Ventures and the County government of Bomet.
Bomet divers have saved over 100 lives in the water bodies, five rivers crossing the region, retrieved 59 bodies in the last one year and participated in body retrieving exercise in the Counties of Narok, Nakuru, Mombasa and Siaya.
