John Augustine Emojong
16 May 2008
Tororo — The International Week of the Red Cross marked in Tororo from May 1 to 8, left a big impact on food security awareness, road safety and environmental conservation among others.
During the launch of the food security campaign, the State Minister for Disaster Preparedness, Mr Musa Ecweru, called upon the district leadership to urgently acquire land for the government to construct silos for food storage in the sub-region.
"The Cabinet has directed the Disaster Preparedness ministry to get land for food production and build silos for food storage as a means of food security in preparation for any disasters such as famine and the floods which devastated Teso last year," Mr Ecweru said.
The Red Cross activities of the week also included; mobilisation of the community to donate blood, first aid training of people from different sectors, Road Safety training for drivers, cyclists and other road users, zebra cross painting and planting of trees on the slopes of Tororo Rock as part of environmental conservation.
Mr Ecweru, who presided over the climax of the Week marked with different activities at King George V1 Memorial Stadium on May 8, urged all district leaders in the country to ensure that when they visit schools, the first thing before they sign a visitors book is to ask the school administration to show atleast one or two trees planted around the school compound that week.
"If each district official did this, when he/she visits a school, it would encourage school managers to ensure that atleast every week, a tree is planted in the compound and this would go a long way in improving our environment," Mr Ecweru said.
Mr Ecweru, accompanied by Tororo Municipality MP, Mr Sanjay Tanna, launched the tree planting project initiated by the Red Cross on the eroded and bare slopes of Tororo Rock on the south part.
The Red Cross Chairperson for Tororo District, Ms Robinah Jassa, urged drivers and cyclists to respect the zebra crossings and the most vulnerable road users such as the elderly, children and the disabled.
During the road safety training, Ms Jassa said: "Some of the reckless drivers and cyclists do not even respect zebra crossings. You can find that when school children are crossing the road at the zebra crossing, a driver is hooting for children to give way."
"What type of driver or cyclist are you not to understand that children have the right of way at a zebra crossing?" Ms Jassa wondered.
During the road safety training, the District Police Commander, Mr Gad Okumu, directed his traffic officers to crack down on vehicles in dangerous mechanical condition, invalid and fake driving licences.
The impact of this was felt on Tuesday, when several vehicles were impounded for various offences and over 20 offenders charged in court.
Mr Okumu cited overloading and over speeding among the many causes of road accidents and vowed to continue with the crackdown on the offenders of the traffic regulations.
Mr Okumu said: "We shall continue with this crackdown until we restore discipline on our roads. Look at vehicles plying the Nagongera route. A car carries 10 people instead of five. The driver drives with half of his body outside because he has put three people in the front seat and even fails to engage gears because he has been squeezed by the passengers."
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