The Parliamentary Committee on Blue Economy, Water and Irigation has challenged leadership at the Coast region to support the youth to acquire relevant technical skills that will help them tap into the opportunities in the upcoming blue economy jobs.
The committee which toured the ongoing construction of the Liwatoni Fisheries complex said, at the height of growing unemployment in the country, it is imperative for local leaders to ensure that young people are taken to technical training institutes to be equipped with a variety of skills that will enable them to competently earn quality jobs in the upcoming facility.
“In the next one year after this project is completed, the facility will require engineers, electricians, artisans and more. It will be a shame if we import this kind of labor while we have people from around who can do it,” said Marakwet East MP David Bowen who is the Committee Chairperson.
According to Bowen, the project is currently awaiting the arrival of cold storage equipment for installation of cold rooms to increase storage capacity.
Once the project is complete, it will go a long way in uplifting the livelihoods of the local community especially the fisher folk by propelling the standards of Kenya’s fishing industry which currently contributes about 0.5 per cent of the national GDP and about two per cent of the national export earnings.
“From what we have been told, once the cold rooms equipment arrives, then the project will be finalized… the president had promised the Coastal people that this factory will create jobs for them and it is our responsibility to ensure that the money we have pumped in here is put to proper use to ensure that young people earn quality jobs in this facility,” the Chair noted.
Following the visit, the committee has given the project a clean bill of health, despite it being choked by myriad corruption allegations.
“We are here on an inspection tour which started a long time ago and the president himself was here to inspect the project and he is keenly following the project because he understands its importance … So as a committee which approved funding for this project we have visited the project and we are happy with the progress which is currently 50 percent and is expected to be completed in the next six months or so,” said the chair at the site.
According to the chair the committee recently approved an additional Sh323 million which the contractor is expected to receive in the next one to two weeks to help finalize the project.
The project whose completion currently stands at 50 percent, was allocated Sh1.8 billion in the 2021/2022 financial year but the construction works could not progress further after investigation by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) exposed claims of procurement irregularities leading to termination of the then contractor’s contract.
Last year, the government unveiled a new contractor to resume the project after stalling for close to a year.
President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the project in November 2018 to harness Kenya’s potential in the blue economy. The project is intended to increase fish production from the current 146,687 metric tonnes (MT) to more than 350,000MT in the next five years.
The Liwatoni fisheries complex and jetty was gazetted as the first fishing port in the country to ensure all vessels have a place to store their fish.
Once completed, fishing vessels operating in Kenya’s territorial waters will be required to land their catch at the facility.
By Hilton Mwabili
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