WINDHOEK – Deputy Prime Minister Marco Hausiku has asked all Namibian to join in the war against road accidents on national roads, saying the road accidents compounds poverty levels.
“The war against road accidents should be relentlessly fought by all of us as road accidents are known for their potential to push people below the poverty line, especially in cases where breadwinners are involved”, bemoaned Hausiku.
The Deputy Prime Minister was speaking at the National Road Safety Council’s fourth annual Road Safety Conference that took place this week from Monday to Wednesday at the Windhoek Country Club and Resort under the theme ‘Building common understanding towards the implementation of the Safe System Approach in Namibia.’
Appealing to reduce the carnage on Namibian roads, Hausiku, said during 2013 over 600 Namibians perished due to road accidents, a situation that is worrisome to Government.
“On the 21st of March 2015, we will be celebrating our 24th Independence Anniversary. This event constantly reminds us of our victory over apartheid, discrimination and racial segregation. Despite the fact that the war of political independence was won, the war of economic struggle is right ahead of us. This is a war that cannot be won through gallantry and the barrel of the gun. It is a war that requires different tools and dexterity,” he said adding that road carnage is a hindrance to economic struggle.
During the same event, the Minister of Works and Transport, Erkki Nghimtina informed the participants at the conference that the Cabinet has adopted the Namibian Chapter on the Decade of Action for Road Safety during 2011. The directive paved the way for amongst others the introduction of road safety training in schools. “Deputy Prime Minister, I wish to inform you that in Namibia we are also making progress, as Road Safety will be taught in schools in grades from Grade 1 to 3 from 2015,”
Attending the road safety conference were various government and private sector institutions while local and internal road safety experts presented different papers on road safety.
By Felix Tjozongoro