Ahead of the anticipated exodus of people to various holiday destinations, the NRSC together with the MVA Fund and the National Police jointly launched the Festive Season Campaign around the theme: “Mind the Consequences of Speeding”. The aim of the campaign is to educate road users especially drivers of the dangers associated with speeding. The campaign will be three-pronged. The public awareness drive will be supplemented by the commensurate law enforcement and trauma response by ambulances stationed at strategic places across accident prone areas.
It is worthwhile to note that even though a road safety campaign during the Christmas time has become a critical intervention to save lives on the national road network, it is to the benefit of the Nation if awareness activities are conducted throughout the year.
Welcoming the quests to the launch, Eugene Tendekule, the Executive Secretary of the National Road Safety Council made it clear that the idea underpinning the campaign is to have a unified programme that combines education, communication and enforcement for the purpose of maximizing the complimentary effect that we hope to achieve in our quest for a deep rooted safety culture and long lasting attitude change.
Delivering the key-note address on behalf of Honourable Erkki Nghimtina, Minister of Works and Transport, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Peter Mwatile, emphasised that for Namibia to achieve tangible and sustainable results, the success of the campaign lies in the hands of each and every road user. All road users, individually and collectively, need to realize the devastating consequences of speeding. He encouraged all Namibians to make personal contribution towards saving lives this festive season by pledging to obey all traffic rules and regulations and thereby taking personal responsibility of their own safety on the roads.
The Permanent Secretary further urged all law enforcement agencies to ensure that those who make themselves guilty of violating the applicable traffic regulations must feel the full wrath of the law. Mwatile also applauded the NRSC and the MVA Fund for the step taken to combine efforts and resources to tackle the pandemic on our roads as united team for a common cause.
The Deputy Inspector General, Major General James Tjivikua on his part cautioned all drivers to desist from speeding as if they were on race tracks. He announced that the Namibian Police is ready to apprehend violators of traffic rules this festive season.
