Having identified the highest statistics of road carnage in the country, the Otjozondjupa region has initiated plans to host a symposium aimed at laying the foundation for much-needed areas of intervention to defeat road deaths and transgressions.
This was revealed by Otjozondjupa regional governor James Uerikua during his state of the region address on Friday.
“Our region is hard-hit in terms of road carnage on the B1 road between Okahandja-Otjiwarongo-Otavi, which are currently the highest accident-prone areas in the country. Namibia has the best roads infrastructure, but ‘road users attitude’ and ‘negligent driving’ are key contributing factors in road accidents. Thus, traffic policing remains an integral part of promoting road safety,” he noted.
Uerikua reported that during the 2021/22 financial year, a total of 7 341 traffic fines amounting to N$5,8 million were issued and 150 persons were arrested for drunken driving, while 52 accidents occurred.
Equally, 460 persons were arrested for other traffic offences.
To this end, his office has initiated a plan for a roads symposium aimed at bringing all roads stakeholders together and seeking an amicable solution to this problem. “We have lost productive citizens on this road. One of the key proposals on this road is the 1+2 road system, which allows for a passing lane of slow-moving traffic,” Uerikua added.
A recently-conducted study by the Motor-Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund to determine the causes of crashes indicates that 72% of crashes are related to human factors.
The fund, therefore, urged all road users, especially drivers, to unlearn unsafe behaviour, including speeding, unsafe overtaking, distractive driving such as using mobile phones, inattentiveness and non-adherence to general road rules.
Uerikua said for the creation of an enabling operational environment for the police, several capital projects have been undertaken in the region. Chief among such projects is the completion of the construction of the Nyae-Nyae police post and barracks in the Tsumkwe Constituency at an amount of N$43.9 million.
As a region surrounded by game reserve parks and game farms, one of the challenges is the preservation of protected species in terms of wildlife.
During the period under review, police in the region managed to arrest perpetrators of crimes linked to protected wildlife such as pangolins and other species. Aligned to this is the serious crime of stock theft, which remains a burden for farmers in both commercial and communal areas.
During the period under review, police managed to recover a total of 116 heads of cattle and 94 small stock with a combined value of N$1.8 million.
In addition, wild animal carcasses, inclusive of 35 Oryx, 16 Kudus and 10 Springboks worth N$ 188 500 were also recovered.
Law-enforcement likewise managed to intercept seven suspects with fake permits from Epukiro in the Omaheke region at the Kalkfeld-Outjo-Otjiwarongo T-junction, where they were found in possession of carcasses of various game to the value of N$ 79 000.
– anakale@nepc.com.na