Namibia should not relent in its pursuit to achieve strategic goals in the road safety sub-sector, deputy minister of transport Veikko Nekundi said last week. “The level at which human trauma has escalated over the last three decades is tremendous, and warrants our attention as the problem has grown significantly,” said Nekundi at the seventh annual road safety conference at Lüderitz last week. According to him, the carnage on Namibian roads needs urgent attention from society and the respective stakeholders as a collective to support the National Road Safety Council to urgently and strategically implement the strategic initiatives under the Second Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030. “This strategy should be steered to full implementation by all stakeholders within the sub-sector to ensure maximum and effective results,’’ he added. “I know that it is nearly impossible to get where you want to go without a goal, a roadmap and organisational commitment, and further want to emphasise that without a goal, you can’t align key stakeholders to a common desired outcome.” On her part, //Kharas governor Aletha Frederick observed that each region has its unique challenges when it comes to road safety issues. “But we have the power to minimise the negative impact of any of these challenging situations,’’ she said. Frederick added that Namibians and all stakeholders involved should take appropriate steps in saving and preserving the precious lives of fellow citizens through responsive and proactive policy formulation, implementation and where necessary, enforcement. “Many studies have proven that implementation of strategy plays a key role to effect performance, and this can only happen when we have clear goals, clearly-aligned initiatives and the ability to track performance and account for the resources allocations as well.”

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Save lives… Namibia has been grappling with the issue of road accidents.

Photo: Nampa