Minister Alan Ganoo stated yesterday morning in a press conference that so far 102 people have lost their lives in road accidents this year. This is what. He added that “one death is one too many”. In 2019, 144 victims had lost their lives on our roads while 108 lost their lives in road accidents last year. According to Alan Ganoo, more than 50% of victims of road accidents are young people. The Minister also announced that Road Safety Education will be introduced as a subject in primary school next year. This decision was taken jointly with the Ministry of Education where 800 teachers have already been trained in this respect.
As from 2023, Road Safety Education will be introduced as a compulsory subject in the curriculum at the level of primary schools, as from Grade 1, under a joint initiative of the Ministry of Land Transport and Light Rail, the Ministry of Education, Tertiary Education, Science and Technology, the Mauritius Institute of Education, and the Mauritius Police Force according to Mr Alan Ganoo.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mrs Shakuntala Devi Gujadhur-Nowbuth; the Director of the Traffic Management and Road Safety Unit (TMRSU), Mr Daramdev Nathoo; the Road Transport Commissioner and Officer-in-Charge of the National Land Transport Authority (NLTA), Dr Koshik Reesaul; and the Chief Executive Officer of Metro Express Limited (MEL), Dr Das Mootanah, were present at the press conference.
The Minister pointed out that bus services were a key component of the overall transport system of the country with some 440,000 commuters travelling daily. He hence highlighted the importance of maintaining decent and appropriate bus services to passengers and mentioned measures implemented by his Ministry to ensure the well-being of passengers. He cited the example of the NTLA’s Bus Modernisation Scheme, set up to provide a subsidy to bus operators to renew their fleet and for which Rs 1.3 m were disbursed for each 61 buses purchased for financial year 2021/2022. He indicated that a sum of Rs 70 m had been earmarked under the Scheme, for financial year 2022-2023, and already, 63 applications had been received, and some Rs 20 m granted.
Furthermore, 330 crack-down initiatives by the Police and the NLTA against illegal transport operators, which the Minister averred deprived legit transport operators of 10% of their revenue, were carried out.
Figures pertaining to the revenue resulting from the application for Personalised Registration Mark, including the new series of Registration Mark, were also revealed by Mr Ganoo. The new Personalised Registration Marks, which can be purchased as from Rs 50,000 up to Rs 200,000, generated some Rs 26.7 m with 236 applications treated and 59 reserved. The Registration Marks, which can be acquired against a payment of Rs 25,000, have brought in Rs 93.6 million with 3,743 applications received.
Metro Express project
Regarding the Metro Express, the Minister was of the view that it was fast becoming a popular means of transport with a daily ridership of 40,000 people. Evoking the completion of the extension of the light rail lines from Quatre Bornes to Phoenix in May 2022, and from Phoenix to Curepipe in October 2022, Mr Ganoo apprised that Phase 3 of the project, which would connect Rose-Hill to Ebène, would be inaugurated by end of January 2022.
The Minister affirmed that a target of 60,000 passengers could be reached with Phase 4 of the Metro Project which would connect Réduit to St Pierre. On that score, he said that a feasibility study was underway for extending the light rail lines to Réduit, St Pierre and Côte d’Or.
