‘A scourge on our roads’

Cyprus Defence Minister Michalis Giorgallas on Tuesday warned of high road deaths being a “modern-day scourge” where people lose their lives or become disabled.

“It is truly sad that every year we lose people, primarily of a young age and also see many people seriously injured due to a minute of thoughtlessness,” he said.

Giorgallas was speaking at an event rewarding 10 soldiers who regularly made use of the free transport offered to them throughout their time in the army.

Despite the drastic reduction of fatal traffic accidents, the number is still exceedingly high, he stressed, calling on the importance of taking immediate action to shift to proper road awareness.

“We seek to develop road awareness primarily in our national guardsmen, but also in our staff so they can be a source of safety while travelling.”

The goal is to adopt measures that can reduce road deaths across the country, he added.

Head of the national guard Dimokritos Zervakis said there are currently 19 bus companies carrying out 99 routes, which cover the routes of national guardsmen.

“The primary aim of the scheme is to offer free, fast and safe transport for national guardsmen during their army service. This scheme frees their families of additional costs and personal time if they were to use personal vehicles,” he said.

With the scheme, “the safety of their children lies in the hands of professional drivers.”

According to Zervakis, public transport reduces the risk of road deaths, and he called on families of national guardsmen to support the scheme and encourage the use of buses.