The centre will be used to coordinate search and rescue services, oil spill responses, information sharing and dissemination of weather forecasts.
Lake Victoria Basin Commission will construct a Sh548million maritime rescue co-ordination centre to deal with disasters such as oil spill.
The project, Multinational Lake Victoria Maritime Communications and Transport (MLVMCT), is being funded by African Development Bank.
Lake Victoria Basin Commission maritime safety officer Amos Ndoto said construction of the rescue coordination centre in Kisumu is a key milestone in efforts to deal with emergencies in the lake.
The centre will be used to coordinate search and rescue services, oil spill responses, information sharing and dissemination of weather forecasts.
"Similarly Uganda and Tanzania will have their funding to have a similar rescue coordination centres," said Mr Ndoto.
He was speaking during the “Oil Spill” workshop at Kisumu Hotel on Wednesday last week.
"To prevent oil spill from water crafts into the lake we need competent personnel and effective coordination to combat oil spill," he said.
Mr Ndoto said it takes up to 183 years to get rid of the oil spill from the lake should an incident happen.
Kenya Maritime Authority head of maritime safety Luke Samba said the success in tackling any major pollution incidents lies in good preparedness “for timely, efficient and coordinated response”.
"The Wakashio disaster of July this year in Mauritius where more than 1000 tonnes of fuel from grounded MV Wakashio spilled into an ecological sensitive area in the India Ocean should serve as warning to all of us," said Mr Samba.
Recently, national government said it is keen to invest heavily in the rehabilitation of infrastructure within the lake. These developments will increase the utilisation of the waters of the Lake Victoria for transport, tourism, food and other activities.
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