30 Nov 2016

Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund branch manager for Francistown, Mr Keitumetse Nkala has said that a number of road safety initiatives have been put in place around the country with different stakeholders.
Speaking during the Tonota Sub-district full council meeting, Mr Nkala said therefore they have found it fit to introduce the community road safety grand scheme in Tonota to curb the number of road accidents that occur in the area.
He said as a contribution towards the road scheme, MVA Fund has pledged to inject a sum of P255 000 to a group of young people who will approach them with the intention to address the issue.
Each group will be reviewed to find out if they meet the objectives of the community road safety grand scheme.
He solicited support from the councillors for the groups’ initiatives, saying they require active participation from the community of Tonota.
Mr Nkala said the road safety scheme which is a government initiative was introduced to the community of Tonota as they are the ones who understand what causes road accidents in their community.
He said the villagers should come up with other initiatives for road safety, which MVA Fund will finance for the safety of the community at large.
“At this point, the MVA Fund has joined forces with the youth of Tonota to come up with a group called The Agents of Change,” he noted. He said the youth will mainly be targeting the elderly and the school going children within the community.
Mr Nkala highlighted that during the past four years, an average of 400 people were recorded to have died from road accidents while 4 555 sustained severe injuries.
“Road safety is not for MVA Fund alone, neither department of road transport and safety, or police. It is for everyone, it is a community issue,” he warned.
He said when an individual dies due to a road accident, the whole community gets affected, noting that developments also bring with them challenges.
Mr Nkala said the newly developed dual carriage road from Tonota to Francistown is also a challenge, adding that if the elderly, children and the whole community are not taught on how the road works, there will be a disaster since a lot of people are recklessly driving on the road.
He said one of the accomplishments of MVA Fund this year was training two teachers in each school around Tonota as they want them to form what is called school road safety clubs.
“These clubs will be able to teach children the importance of obeying road signs and how to protect themselves from road accidents among others,” he noted.
Mr Nkala said government alone is not able to come up with initiatives, adding that community participation is very important.
He explained that MVA Fund found it fit to obtain five ambulances that have been donated to different hospitals in the country being Princess Marina, Mahalapye and Nyangabgwe.
Mr Nkala also said Emergency Medical Service (EMS) providers have been engaged to attend to road accidents within the radius of eight kilometres and rush those who have been involved to the nearest medical facilities for medical assistance.ENDS