Let’s Have An Accident-Free Easter

OVER the Easter weekend each year, Namibians take the opportunity to visit friends and family elsewhere in the country and the result is busier than usual national roads.

We trust that traffic authorities will target this particular period to ensure adequate monitoring so that we can boast an accident-free Easter next week. We would also urge all drivers to exercise caution: to ensure roadworthiness of their vehicles before travelling; don’t indulge in alcohol before they take to the wheel; make sure their passengers are buckled up; that vehicles are not overloaded; observe all road signs and overtake only when it is safe to do so; and stop when necessary to rest.These are just some of the checks that should be done, and adherence to these few basic principles will go a long way to ensuring there is an accident-free weekend ahead of us and that everyone can be guaranteed to get to their destinations and back home safely.We trust that road patrols and roadblocks will ensure proper checks, especially on those motorists who tend to ignore speed limits, road rules and safety procedures, and that officials are on the alert for those who ignore them and thereby place other lives in danger.There has been a lot of discussion about road safety in recent weeks, especially in the wake of a high death and injury toll on our roads over the Christmas recess, so we hope that the Ministry, along with active stakeholders such as the MVA, traffic and Police officers, the National Road Safety Council and others, have paid appropriate attention to the educational and monitoring aspects of an accident-free Easter campaign.The success of this initiative would largely depend on the compliance of the motoring public, and we would urge further that they do not simply rush towards their destinations, exhibiting impatience and anger in the process.Many people will be travelling down to Keetmanshoop for the annual Namibian Newspaper Cup, which takes place in Karas this year, so we would like to urge everyone driving that route to also ensure safe driving.We would not like this event to be marred by death and/or injury.Finally, we wish all our readers and advertisers and supporters a peaceful and relaxing Easter break, and a word of thanks to the people in all those essential services for being on standby to assist others in need.Electricity Hike Shock AGAIN Namibians will be asked to fork out more for electricity.It was announced this week that the Electricity Control Board (ECB) had approved NamPower’s request to increase its bulk tariffs, and these increases in turn will be passed on to the consumers.We have heard a lot in recent weeks about a huge NamPower infusion of some US$40 million into the ageing Hwange plant in Zimbabwe, and how this, once completed, will ensure a cheap(er) supply of electricity to Namibia.However, that is a long way off, although we understand that work has already begun on the plant.In the meantime our consumers have to bite the bullet and pay more for electricity as the country goes into its winter months.NamPower’s rationale for the price hike is the increasingly expensive arrangements with the Eskom power utility in South Africa, and the fact that there is a prevailing power shortage in the sub-continent as a whole.This obviously argues that Namibia should look at alternatives for power supply, and these initiatives should be embarked on sooner rather than later.The nuclear option is not necessarily the most feasible, and so we would urge that the country concentrate on renewable and solar energy sources to get us out of our predicament in the foreseeable future.We would also urge all drivers to exercise caution: to ensure roadworthiness of their vehicles before travelling; don’t indulge in alcohol before they take to the wheel; make sure their passengers are buckled up; that vehicles are not overloaded; observe all road signs and overtake only when it is safe to do so; and stop when necessary to rest.These are just some of the checks that should be done, and adherence to these few basic principles will go a long way to ensuring there is an accident-free weekend ahead of us and that everyone can be guaranteed to get to their destinations and back home safely.We trust that road patrols and roadblocks will ensure proper checks, especially on those motorists who tend to ignore speed limits, road rules and safety procedures, and that officials are on the alert for those who ignore them and thereby place other lives in danger.There has been a lot of discussion about road safety in recent weeks, especially in the wake of a high death and injury toll on our roads over the Christmas recess, so we hope that the Ministry, along with active stakeholders such as the MVA, traffic and Police officers, the National Road Safety Council and others, have paid appropriate attention to the educational and monitoring aspects of an accident-free Easter campaign.The success of this initiative would largely depend on the compliance of the motoring public, and we would urge further that they do not simply rush towards their destinations, exhibiting impatience and anger in the process.Many people will be travelling down to Keetmanshoop for the annual Namibian Newspaper Cup, which takes place in Karas this year, so we would like to urge everyone driving that route to also ensure safe driving.We would not like this event to be marred by death and/or injury.Finally, we wish all our readers and advertisers and supporters a peaceful and relaxing Easter break, and a word of thanks to the people in all those essential services for being on standby to assist others in need.Electricity Hike Shock AGAIN Namibians will be asked to fork out more for electricity.It was announced this week that the Electricity Control Board (ECB) had approved NamPower’s request to increase its bulk tariffs, and these increases in turn will be passed on to the consumers.We have heard a lot in recent weeks about a huge NamPower infusion of some US$40 million into the ageing Hwange plant in Zimbabwe, and how this, once completed, will ensure a cheap(er) supply of electricity to Namibia.However, that is a long way off, although we understand that work has already begun on the plant.In the meantime our consumers have to bite the bullet and pay more for electricity as the country goes into its winter months.NamPower’s rationale for the price hike is the increasingly expensive arrangements with the Eskom power utility in South Africa, and the fact that there is a prevailing power shortage in the sub-continent as a whole.This obviously argues that Namibia should look at alternatives for power supply, and these initiatives should be embarked on sooner rather than later.The nuclear option is not necessarily the most feasible, and so we would urge that the country concentrate on renewable and solar energy sources to get us out of our predicament in the foreseeable future.