Kampala, 30/10/2007

KENYA AND UGANDA LAUNCHES JOINT WILDLIFE RESCUE TRAINING ON MT.ELGON

By Leo Odera Omolo
The Kenya wildlife Service (KWS) and its counterpart Uganda Wild Life have started a joint mountain search and rescue training operation in Mount Elgon National Park
 
The eight day training is sponsored by the Brazilian government and will be conducted on both the Kenyan and Ugandan sides of the mountain, which stands along the border lies between the two countries with its two halves located inside the two neighbouring countries.
 
Two Brazilians disaster management experts Mr.Sua Sunna and Mr.Alex Borges will be conducting training session involving 20 experts among them four community mountain porters from the two countries.
 
The programme is part of the efforts to boost joint patrols and tourism by Kenya and Uganda Wildlife Authorities in the shared mountains” said Mr.Joachim Kagiri,KWS deputy director incharge of wildlife and community service.
 
The programme was launched in the Ugandan town of Mbale Mr.Kagiri noted that tourism was a sensitive industry and that tourism safety required special attention.
 
Tourism was one of the Kenya’s main foreign exchange earners and money generated from tourism sector has improved the living standards of the neighbouring communities.
 
The KWS official urged the neigbouring communities to join hands in the conservation of the fragile mountain ecosystem, saying that KWS alone would not manage the national parks without involving the local people.
 
The KWS official urged them to ensure there is peace and stability in order to attract more tourists and thanked the Brazilian Government for sponsoring the ongoing training .
 
The newly trained rescuers will supplement eight other KWS rangers based at Mr Kenya National park
 
Simon Gitau, the head of the rescue team who was also present at the launching of the programme.He told the guest that with the addition  of the rescuers inMt Elgon ,Kenya will not rely on external help in cases of Mountain incidents.
 
The terrain on the Ugandan side in challenging and several cases of injuries have been reported .two teams will be involved in disaster management in the two countries to avoid depending on foreign rescuers from countries like Australia.
 
Mr.Michael Chemonges the Mt Elgon Regional Ecosytem conservation programme technical advisor said the training was a strong building block in enhancing collaborations in trans-boundary natural resource management.
 
Uganda Wildlife Authority Mr.Fredrick Kiiza said Mt.Elgon ecosystem would not be managed effectively without partnership.
 
The course is a third one after others in bush fire fighting and marine safety.
 
KWS has set up en emergency management unit under the security division and will be operational in a couple of week’s time.
 
About 100 KWS officers have been trained in bush fire fighting school in Manyara field Training School as part of disaster management preparedness.
 
KWS team joined the national disaster management mission in rescue efforts during the Kenya Airways aircraft crash in Duai Cameroon in May 2007
 
Ends
leooderaomolo@yahoo.com