KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Jamaica Automobile Association (JAA) has joined a global initiative to help educate drivers about more eco-friendly and fuel-efficient driving techniques. This will effectively expand the Association’s focus to include a prerogative for environmentally sound motoring.
Speaking at the launch of the Make Cars Green campaign in Jamaica, Alan Beckford, JAA General Manager, stated that “it is expected that this campaign will help to raise the level of environmental awareness in Jamaica, especially as it relates to the impact of motoring on the environment.”
“Road safety is an important aspect of responsible driving, and eco-friendly vehicle operation is another way in which drivers can ensure that others are not harmed by their use of automobiles. Drivers too have a role to play in eliminating air pollution,” Mr. Beckford said.
Jamaica’s support of the Make Cars Green initiative was announced during a media briefing at the JAA Offices at 7 Central Avenue today, December 10. A ‘10 point guide for greener driving’ pamphlet, the chief publication of the campaign, was also issued to press and guests at the event.
Through its support of the campaign, spearheaded by the International Automobile Federation (FIA), the JAA will lead the charge in Jamaica and continue a trend which has been initiated by FIA clubs in South Africa, Russia, China, Japan, Italy, UK, United Arab Emirates, France, Austria, Luxembourg, Portugal, Nicaragua, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Oman, Sudan, Malta and Yemen since June this year.
Speaking further, Mr. Beckford said that the success of the campaign is likely to be enhanced “through the support of the Ministry of Energy, which has been particularly receptive to the initiative, which if adopted by road users, will help to reduce per capita fuel consumption.”
The JAA Manager said that through the campaign, the Association intends to educate Jamaicans to play conscious role in environmental stewardship and make an impact in the level of green house emissions on the island. The Association will be engaging service organisations and schools in coming weeks as well as produce an educational video for public broadcast.
“The JAA will spread the campaign’s message of fuel efficient driving tandem with its ongoing Programme for Road Safety Education, which involves visits to corporate area schools to educate children. We will use the rising popularity of motor spots in Jamaica to catapult the campaign message of environmentally sound use of cars,” Mr. Beckford said.
The International Transport Forum (ITF) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has, since the recent G8 Summit of Nations, been aggressively pursuing drastic cuts vehicle energy consumption by 50 per cent by 2030, with reductions in Carbondioxide emissions. It intends to achieve this solution with a international framework, which the Make Cars Green comprises.
The Government and opposition have, in the past, readily supported jointly-articulated JAA and FIA road safety messages. Prime Minister, the Hon Bruce Golding, and leader of the Opposition, Portia Simpson Miller, recently signed the global Make Roads Safe petition. Minister of Energy, Hon. Clive Mullings and Minister of Transport and Works, Mike Henry, also addressed the media.
