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Contact:
Claudia Monlouis
Wednesday, March 22, 2006 – The Ministry of Tourism continues to
encourage hoteliers to make use of the services provided by licensed Water
-craft Operators within the sector.
Officials are calling for the cooperation of hoteliers in a bid to encourage
compliance to set standards by all Water- craft Operators.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism Ms. Maria Fowell says best
practices are being encouraged under the guidance of the Water -craft Advisory
Committee.
“The Ministry of Tourism in order to encourage the implementation of the water
based standards wants to ensure that the hotels are encouraging those persons
who have actually done the training and those persons who have been certified to
be the ones that are operating within the area of their hotels.”
In light of this, the ministry has developed the Coxswain Certification
Programme in collaboration with the Marine Police. The fourth round of the
course began in January with 45 persons and ended in February.
“What tends to happen is that we have water-crafts that in the past have been
licensed and the focus had been on the crafts, as opposed to the persons
operating the craft, and it is felt that we should have a number of programmes
in place to be able to train and certify those persons that are actually
operating the craft.”
The course outline includes relevant topics on the theory of navigation as well
as a practical aspect dealing with boat handling, First Aid and CPR training.
Other study areas include captain's responsibilities, basic engineering
procedures , and rules of the road.
Officials say by undergoing the formal training, water craft operators including
water taxi operators will add value to the service they are offering to the
industry.
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