A site visit was organised, today, in Forest Side, to identify a plot of land for the new Driving Examination Training Centre project which will be jointly implemented by the Ministry of Land Transport and Light Rail, the Ministry of Labour, Human Resource Development and Training, and the Mauritius Institute of Training and Development (MITD). This Build-Operate-Transfer project, to the tune of some Rs 150 million, is expected to yield annual revenues of Rs 50 million.
The Minister of Land Transport and Light Rail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr Alan Ganoo, the Attorney General, Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security, Mr Maneesh Gobin, the Minister of Labour, Human Resource Development and Training, Minister of Commerce and Consumer Protection, Mr Soodesh Satkam Callichurn, and other eminent personalities were present during the site visit.
In a statement, Minister Ganoo highlighted that this project will lay emphasis on the training of future drivers since the Director of Audit insisted on the need to have a proper driving training centre in the country. He recalled that, despite several measures being implemented by Government, additional actions must be undertaken so as to improve road safety around the island as the number of deaths on the roads is still alarming.
The Centre, underlined Mr Ganoo, will comprise a track to train youth willing to acquire their driving licence and this project will be implemented in accordance with international norms. He added that the Ministry of Labour, Human Resource Development and Training and the MITD are in the process of recruiting a consultant who will, among others, determine the exact land area required for the track to be built.
He further stated that existing driving schools will continue to operate but will have to be recognised as official ones by Government. These driving schools will have to observe all norms established by the Ministry of Land Transport and Light Rail, the Mauritius Police Force, the MITD and the Traffic Road Management and Safety Unit, he emphasised.
For his part, Minister Gobin indicated that appropriate land had to be identified to implement this project as one of the roles of his Ministry is to preserve forests around the island. As such, he underscored, an agricultural plot of land has been earmarked, opposite the MITD Professional Drivers Training Centre, for this purpose.
As for Minister Callichurn, he recalled that the Forest Side MITD Professional Drivers Training Centre exists since 1997 and has already trained thousands of Mauritians to date. The objectives of the new Centre, he observed, will be to train additional new Mauritian drivers in line with international standards, as well as those who have had their driving licence suspended due to a serious breach of the highway code. He added that the training received by new drivers will play a key role in road safety in Mauritius.
