John Muyamba
RUNDU – The Minister of Works and Transport, John Mutorwa wants the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund of Namibia (MVA) to do a study on causes of car crashes on the country’s roads in stipulated regions and present the findings to his office for agreeable and workable solutions by the end of August this year.
Mutorwa made the request in his official keynote speech which was read on his behalf by Kavango East Regional Governor Dr. Samuel Mbambo at the recent official inauguration of the new MVA Rundu Service Centre building in Rundu.
“It pleases me to mention that, following the 2nd Global High Level Conference on Road Safety, which was held in Brasilia, Brazil in November 2015, our Government undertook to explore the concept of universal health coverage, as the important role of public health in terms of reducing road traffic fatalities and injuries in addition to improving health outcomes,” he said.
Mutorwa further stated that government does acknowledge that, there is a shared responsibility to move towards a world free from road traffic fatalities and serious injuries and that addressing road safety demands multi-stakeholder collaboration. He added that the Namibian government further concedes that to only focus on road users as a cause of crashes is inappropriate and insufficient, as crashes result from multiple causes, many of which are linked to social determinants and risk factors.
“I am discouraged by the revelation that that according to road crash statistics collated by the MVA Call Centre for the year 2017, the Kavango East Region accounts for 24 percent of roll-over crashes ,” Mutorwa said. Mutorwa further said that equally shocking is the fact that 53 percent of all crashes that occurred in Kavango East were pedestrian related. “In fact, while people of all age groups suffer injuries due to road crashes, young adults are most impacted, as nearly half of all persons injured in pedestrian-related crashes in 2017 were aged 16 to 35 years, 50 percent compared to 47 percent in 2016,” he noted.
Initially, MVA first opened their office in Rundu in December 2008 and have been renting office space until now that they have their new office building. “Congratulations MVA Fund on the acquisition of this piece of land and new building as you continue to fulfil your commitment to diligently serve the Namibian road users in an innovative and superior manner,” Mutorwa said in a statement.