Radio Plus 16th Anniversary : Road Safety Campaign at the forefront of celebrations

As part of its 16th anniversary on 13th April 13, Radio Plus organised a week of events and activities on road safety. The No. 1 radio in Mauritians is working in collaboration with the Traffic Management and Road Safety Unit (TMRSU) and the association Fellowship First Aiders Association in order to sensitise the public on road safety.

The number one radio station of the island is celebrating its 16th anniversary on 13th April. In this context, Radio Plus set up a series of activities during the week to raise awareness on road dangers and sensitise the Mauritian public in general on the importance of road safety.

From Monday 9th to Friday 13th April, the theme of the show ‘Le Grand Journal’ focused on road safety. The radio hosts animated the show in different locations around the island. The week kicked-off with the first broadcast which took place at the Line Barracks with Jean-Luc Emile, who talked about the situation on our roads.

On Tuesday, the show was animated by Nawaz Noorbux at the ABC Motors showroom at Phoenix. His guests, namely Sergeant Barlen Moonsamy from the Traffic Branch, Govinden Venkatasami from the Driving Instructors Federation and Ilshade Chaumoo, a Moto School tutor, talked on the prevention of road accidents.

Jugdish Joypaul and Florence Alexandre animated the show ‘Talk of the Town’ on Wednesday 11th April at Super U, Grand Baie. They welcomed survivors of road accidents and relatives of victims to talk about the impacts and aftermath of road accidents. Among them Harold L’Espérance, father of a son who died after a motorcycle accident, who shared how he lives with the absence of his son. He said that he is in favour of the ‘Moto Ecole’ project but does not believe that this will suffice to remedy the situation.

Radio Plus organised on Thursday 12th April a peaceful march to pay tribute to the victims of road accidents. Radio hosts, journalists from the Defi Media Group, NGOs, police officers, relatives and victims of road accidents as well as the Acting President of the Republic Barlen Vyapoory and the Chief Whip Bobby Hurreeram were among the marching crowd. The march began at Champs de Mars and ended at Jardin de la Compagnie. Arriving at Jardin de la Compagnie, various persons spoke and survivors delivered testimonies.

The Acting President of the Republic believes that awareness campaign on road safety must be a continuous process. “Despite the many campaigns led by Minister Nando Bodha and his Ministry, as well as by other institutions, the number of road accidents continues to rise. If there were no awareness campaigns, things would have been worst. We must educate the population to take the necessary precautions to avoid being involved in serious or even fatal road accidents,” said Barlen Vyapoory.

Chief Whip Bobby Hurreeram, on his side, uttered that each of us have to take their responsibilities. “Despite awareness campaigns, posters, if the person still does not understand that we should not drink before driving, nothing will change. Change comes from oneself. All drivers must respect their friends on the road. The road is not a place where you take out your stress or frustration,” pointed out Bobby Hurreeram. On the same occasion, the Fellowship First Aiders Association was also on site to give first-aid courses to the first 100 people who
registered.

A debate forum at the municipality of Port Louis also took place. Nawaz Noorbux and Jean Luc Emile discussed on ways to prevent the disaster (of road accidents) on our roads. They welcomed Daniel Raymond, Minister Nando Bodha’s adviser, Dev Nathoo, Assistant Director of Traffic Management and Road Safety Unit, Muktar Din Taujoo, Police Traffic Branch Manager, and Kevin Ramkhalawon, Chief Executive Officer of Business Mauritius to discuss on the topic.

The forum was broadcasted live on Radio Plus and on the Défi Media Group’s Facebook page. The day ended with a vigil in front of the Municipality of Port Louis to pay tribute to the victims of road accidents. The public was invited to join the Radio Plus team with candles and flowers.

On Friday 13th April, Radio Plus organised a free concert at the Mont Choisy beach from 18:00 to 23:00. The concert saw the participation of locally renowned artists such as Alain Ramanisum, Laura Beg, Linzy Bacbotte, Jerry & The Resistance et le Grup Latanier, and others.

You will be able to watch videos on all the different activities and events on Téléplus. You will also be able to watch four documentaries based on several themes namely the behaviour of motorists, motorcyclists and their trainings and the enforcement of the laws on road safety, among others.