By Surihe Gaomas WINDHOEK With the ‘Xupifa Eemwenyo’ Road Safety campaign officially expected to kick off tomorrow (Friday), the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (MVA) has announced that support for the nationwide campaign has already exceeded the N$2-million mark. Yesterday, several sponsors made financial and material contributions to the campaign that aims at saving lives on the nation’s roads during the festive season. At a press briefing yesterday, MTC donated a cheque of N$270 000 for breath screen devices and text messaging for all it subscribers, Shell Namibia gave N$220 000 for funding the Karibib roadblock which will hand out public education materials to motorists on safe driving and the Road Fund Administration (RFA) provided four generators to the value of N$20 000 that will be used in the Hardap, Erongo, Kunene and Karas regions. Participating in the campaign for the second time, the Road Contractor Company (RCC) donated N$50 000 for all road traffic signs at various roadblocks in the Karas, Hardap, Erongo and Kunene regions. The Social Security Commission (SSC) contributed to the campaign with breath screen devices worth N$10 000, Total Namibia is sponsoring fuel to 23 patrol vehicles at a cost of N$60 000, while Standard Bank donated N$38 000 for the production of radio advertisements. Imperial Fleet Services which joins the campaign for the first time this year heeded to the call on a vehicle shortage by the Namibian Police by providing four Nissan vehicles for the duration of the campaign. New Era Publications Corporation is contributing by inviting the general public to send in photographs on any road violations or any incident that may lead to accidents, while the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), the biggest sponsor, gave N$300 000 worth of television and radio airtime and commercials. This is the first time since independence that a total of 38 sponsoring partners have pulled together for a single noble cause of saving lives on the country’s national roads, especially during the December/January holidays. Meanwhile, at similar press briefing on Monday this week, First National Bank (FNB), Telecom and Insurance Company of Namibia (INSCON) also gave financial and material support to Xupifa Eemwenyo 2006. FNB, that last week assisted towards emergency response and public education, gave a cheque of N$40 000 for the same. According to FNB’s Manager of Corporate Communications, Cassius Moetie, the bank has committed a total of N$100 000 to the entire project and will now arrange with the MVA on how to allocate the remaining N$60 000. Moetie said it is important that citizens and corporate businesses support this national project. “Most lives are tragically lost during this period and it is very, very sad. Therefore, such initiative of the MVA needs to be supported both financially and in kind,” said Moetie, adding that a lot of public education is needed, as many precious lives that could contribute to the economic growth of the country are lost in road accidents. With a cheque of N$25 000 INSCON contributed towards lighting equipment at major roadblocks at Karas, Hardap, Erongo and Kunene. “We must join hands to move forward and we are glad to see so many companies have joined in this project,” said General Manager of INSCON, Rudi Jacobs. Contributing towards providing accident emergency numbers to the general public, Telecom Namibia also came on board. It will provide stickers worth N$40 000. Senior Manager of Business Development at Telecom, Paulus Iipinge, noted that quick dial emergency numbers are crucial for receiving rapid assistance to save lives. “We feel that it’s important that accidents are reported and there’s a very quick response from police, the ambulance services and the SOS so that lives can be saved as quickly as possible,” said Iipinge when he handed the cheque to the MVA’s Corporate Affairs Manager, Rosalia Martins-Hausiku. In response, Martins-Hausiku said over the past two years, the MVA Fund has been inundated with many accident claims and saw the need to do something hence the initiative “Xupifa Eemwenyo”. “Over the past two years, MVA was overwhelmed by the high occurrence of road accidents and claims. We cannot just sit back, so we are therefore more actively involved in saving lives,” said Martins-Hausiku. Although the N$2-million target has been reached, the MVA Fund still welcomes more contributions.