By Cecelia Campbell Livingston
School crossing wardens at Jamalco were recently resensitised to their roles and functions as part of Road Safety Awareness Month initiatives aimed at reducing accidents on the nation’s roadway.
The school crossing wardens were brought together at the company’s Sports Club for training and were equipped with the relevant skills and knowledge required to deliver even better service in guiding children across the busy streets.
Corporate Service Manager of Jamalco, Donna Marie Brooks, in giving an overview of the School Crossing Wardens’ Safety Programme, said it was launched in October 2009 as an extension of the company’s road safety awareness initiative in response to the increasing number of road fatalities that occurred on the country’s roadways, especially among children.
The programme was implemented at a time when several incidents, including fatalities, were occurring along the corridor where the company is located.
“As a good corporate citizen, we implemented the School Wardens programme to help stem the carnage along the roadway. A team of school crossing wardens was placed at selected schools located along heavily trafficked roadways to ensure greater protection for the children who must cross these streets on a daily basis,” she shared.
Brooks noted that the training of the school wardens is just one component, but it is not enough as the wardens would only address one aspect of the problem. As such, coordinated training in defensive driving for taxi operators in Clarendon was carried out, resulting in considerable improvements in the behaviour of the taxi operators on the road. Since the launch, Brooks informed that the company has not had any reports of another student being killed along the corridor.
Currently, ten schools in Clarendon and South Manchester are benefiting from this initiative. This includes, Annunciation Basic School along the Hayes main road, Mitchell Town Primary, York Town Primary, Brixton Hill Primary, Mocho Primary & Infant School in Clarendon, Campbell’s Castle All Age, and Prattville Primary.
Over the years, Jamalco has been working closely with the Road Safety Unit of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and the National Road Safety Council to train school wardens and provide road safety support for schools.
To date, over 100 wardens from Clarendon and South Manchester have been trained and have received temporary employment under the programme.
Paula Fletcher, executive director of the National Road Safety Council, in highlighting the negative impact of crashes on the road, said it will erode the growth of the economy.
“The impact of crashes erodes the GDP (Gross Domestic Product), so if we can get on top of that in terms of being able to have more money to spend on education and to improve the health sector, we could automatically just reduce the amount of crashes and we are there,” she stated, as she pointed out that road crashes under-develop Jamaica.
“We lose people who we have invested in as family, as a nation, and as a business, so there is always an investment to get them through the various levels as well as lost potential to the nation,” she highlighted.
Frederick Bryan, general secretary of the National Council of Taxi Association, expressed gratitude for the defensive driving programme. He however expressed disappointment that since then there have been several similar programmes, but taxi operators have been reluctant to take up the offer.
“The drivers don’t seem to want to go, because they can’t afford to lose a day, but I have always taken it on myself to go,” he shared.
In commending the company for the programme, which he noted has saved many lives, he made the suggestion that it be replicated islandwide by other companies.