ROAD SAFETY UNIT TEAMS UP WITH PEPSI IN ROAD SAFETY INITIATIVE

‘Kool Kat’ makes a presentation of material to Permanent Secretary, Dr. Alwin Hales, (left) while Mr. John Burrowes, Marketing Director at Pepsi looks on.
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A major Road Safety Initiative has been entered into between the Road Safety Unit of the Ministry of Housing, Transport, Water and Works of the Ministry of Housing, Transport, Water & Works and Pepsi Co. Ltd.

Speaking at the function, Dr. Alwin Hales, Permanent Secretary who deputised for Minister Robert Pickersgill, said, “Today, I am pleased to officially acknowledge a partnership between the Road Safety Unit of the Ministry of Housing, Transport, Water and Works and Pepsi Cola Ltd. This partnership will see the enhancement of the Unit’s Education in School’s programme, and could not have come at a more appropriate time for it comes on the heels of events and situations which demand a clear and unequivocal wake up call to all users of our roads.”

Under the partnership, Pepsi Cola will provide resource materials for the Unit’s Schools’ Education programme. Pepsi through its product D&G, will provide the RSU with a new instructional video as well as handout materials which will be used for presentations to school children during visits made to schools by Officers of the Unit.

In making the presentation of the new materials to the Road Safety Unit, Denise Dixon, Marketing Manager for Pepsi Cola explained that, “Pepsi Cola fully supports the efforts of the Road Safety Unit to educate Jamaican children about safety on the streets. Our children are most precious, and we must all do what we can to protect them, prepare them and provide them with the tools needed to handle the day to day dangers they may face. The reality is that from as young as four years children are sent out into the streets on their own to travel to school or do errands for their parents. Therefore, we all have a responsibility to ensure that they can confidently and safely navigate our dangerous streets as pedestrians.”

At a ceremony at the Osbourne Store Primary and Junior High School in Clarendon, on October 25, D&G’s mascot, ‘KOOL KAT’, was on hand to assist in making the presentation to Permanent Secretary, Dr. Alwin Hales.

In highlighting the significance of Pepsi’s support for the work of the Road Safety Unit, Dr. Hales said, “Pepsi Cola Jamaica must be applauded in its initiative, having joined hands with the Ministry’s in an effort to improve our ability to create awareness among our children.” The Permanent Secretary cited trends in road deaths since the start of this year stating that road fatalities were already 16% higher than 2005. He noted that if the trend continued, it would be the first in five years that the country had not realised a reduction in road fatalities, having achieved a mean annual reduction of 7% since 2002. He observed that education and awareness campaigns such as those conducted by the Road Safety Unit are successful in reducing road fatalities, pointing to the example of Costa Rica where a national Road Safety Campaign resulted in a 82% increase in seatbelt usage rate, and a 30% reduction in fatalities and a 50% reduction in serious injuries.

Also speaking at the ceremony was, Senator Noel Monteith, State Minister in the Ministry of Education. He lauded the efforts of the Road Safety Unit and used the opportunity to disclose plans that the Ministry had to establish a ‘safe zone’ in the vicinity of schools islandwide. He also said that a proposal has been made for vehicles picking up and letting off passengers should have on their hazard lights when doing so. These proposals, he said were with the Attorney General.

At the end of the ceremony, officials from the National Works Agency with the help of ‘Kool Kat’, re-painted a pedestrian crossing at the gate of the Osbourne Store Primary and Junior High School.