THE Maritime Administration Department of Guyana (MARAD) has collaborated with the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) and Conservation International Guyana (CIG) to conduct a boat captain’s training and certification programme for boat operators.In a release, MARAD said the programme, conducted at Caiman House in Yupukari Village, Region Nine, commenced on August 10, 2016. Participants were drawn from Yupukari, Massara, and Toka villages; Karanambu Eco-lodge, and the Protected Areas Commission in Central Rupununi, and 28 boat operators have since been each awarded a Certificate of Competency to operate as a boat captain under the Licensing of Ships Regulation 2001. They are now appropriately equipped to operate safely on the rivers within the region.

The training is one of the initiatives undertaken by MARAD, with support from partners, to expand the outreach where maritime services are needed but are very difficult to access financially and logistically.

The GTA continues to lend support to MARAD, as its standard operating procedure is to improve the safety and professional standards of river tours offered by various operators, based on Guyana’s growing nature-based tourism products; and to ensure that operators are licensed to operate on the rivers.

Training in this respect was conducted previously in July 2014 in Annai, and 21 boat operators had benefited.