The Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund on Friday officially inaugurated a newly built emergency service centre at Otavi in the Otjozondjupa Region.
Otjozondjupa Governor, James Uerikua who officiated the event expressed pleasure to see the MVA Fund supporting Government’s efforts of bringing equitable access of services to all Namibians.
He said the centre would be dedicated to emergency response activities mostly in relation to road crashes and customer service in assisting persons injured in motor vehicle crashes.
The centre will also receive and process claim forms of people who sustain injuries or succumb in road accidents.
Uerikua said his region produces a long stretch passage of the B1 road between Okahandja, Otjiwarongo and Otavi where about 282 road crashes occur on average in a year.
About 675 injuries and 96 fatalities on average annually are normally recorded, said Uerikua.
“Therefore, looking at these numbers and the state of affairs of our roads is a deep concern to our society, including pedestrians, cyclists and passengers,” he said.
The governor then called on various road infrastructure stakeholders to look into investing resources towards the construction of a dual carriage road between Okahandja, Otjiwarongo and Otavi with the idea to reduce accidents.
Uerikua further proposed a mass stakeholders’ meeting in the future where matters of road infrastructure development could be discussed.
Chairperson of the MVA Fund Board, Dr Shitaleni Herman at the same event said the fund wants to see its emergency response personnel reaching accident scenes quickly and also to provide strong medical support to victims.
He said the MVA Fund has a wish to establish rehabilitation centres for different injuries and also a national trauma service centre in the capital.
At the Otavi event on Friday, hundreds of people were captivated by an accident simulation performed by the MVA Fund together with members of the Namibian Police Force’s road traffic unit and various paramedics as part of their road accident prevention campaign.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
