08 Mar 2015

The Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (MVA) has been hailed for working towards reducing road traffic accidents across the country.

The fund was hailed during Maun stakeholder session to solicit feedback regarding services offered to community.

Residents of Maun also praised the fund for cushioning the impact of road traffic crashes, saying there was a lot of improvement in service delivery and urged the fund to explore several new ways of improving and complimenting existing services.

One of the participants, Mr Chippa Mohiemang said the fund deserved a pat on the back for managing effects of road traffic crashes in Botswana, adding that the fund was doing well in disseminating information regarding road safety.

He also urged the fund to consider private partnership and invest in infrastructure and suggested that it should develop some of the road spots which were prone to accidents.

Another participant,  Mr Monametsi Sokwe thanked the fund for introducing prevention projects and on a different note requested the fund to assist Maun youth in sports.
He said Ngamiland region had talented youth in sports hence the need to come up with support initiatives geared towards youth empowerment.

Mr Sokwe also observed that young people were the most affected in road accidents due to the high rate of alcohol consumption and believed the initiatives could take them away from alcohol outlets.

For her part, MVA general manager for customer services, Ms Mpule Ditirwa acknowledged the cooperation the fund had with stakeholders which she said had facilitated the implementation of remedial measures. She said the constructive feedback they got in the previous years had assisted the fund to achieve its mandate of reducing the impact of road traffic crashes.

Ms Ditirwa revealed that the fund had achieved a lot citing as one of their successes the mobile children traffic school aimed at educating children on road safety issues.

Other achievements include mobile office, the opening of new office at Rail Park Mall in Gaborone, construction of bus shelters at strategic places with road safety messages around Maun and Community Road Safety Scheme, an initiative that the community could tap in to disseminate prevention messages.

“Your collective teamwork will not only motivate but revitalise the current MVA Fund position in standing against road crashes and preaching road safety.

It is our aim to move forward and we could achieve that through stakeholder collaboration to sustain and improve our service delivery,” she added.

The fund provides financial relief for funeral, medical and rehabilitation costs, compensation for loss of earnings as a result of injuries suffered in a road crash, and compensation for dependants’ loss of financial support. It vigorously conducts a range of road safety awareness activities around the country. ENDS