Dominican Republic: ADRA signs special agreement with the national transportation office

March 29, 2012 – Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic…Libna Stevens/IAD

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) and the Technical Office for Ground Transportation (OTTT) in the Dominican Republic recently agreed to work together to train thousands of public transportation drivers in an effort to mitigate the violence and traffic accidents that have escalated the past three years.

OTTT Director Julio Horton and Pastor Cesario Acevedo of ADRA-Dominican chairman signed the agreement at the headquarter office for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Santo Domingo on March 13, 2012.

Horton stated that education was fundamental in the prevention of accidents and that his office and ADRA will combine resources and materials to execute the project. He congratulated ADRA leaders for their initiative.

As he signed the agreement, Pastor Cesario Acevedo, who also leads the Seventh-day Adventist Church on the island, assured witnesses that, as a Christian entity, the church is committed to creating a positive change in the conduct of public transportation drivers. The church has some 283,000 church members, said Acevedo, of which some 85 percent are young people, and that the youth will help work on the project.

The seed of the agreement grew out of an initiative proposed by ADRA-Dominican to combat the rising number of accidents and traffic delays affecting commuters in Santo Domingo and other cities on the island since 2009, said Luis Miguel Acevedo, ADRA-Dominican director.

Statistics reveal that more than 5,000 vehicle accidents occurred in 2009, more than 40 percent due to recklessness, alcoholism, and road rage, said Luis Miguel Acevedo.

“Our plans are to begin eight-hour training courses to groups of drivers on treating passengers courteously, how to save gasoline, mechanically maintain their vehicles, personal finance management, and more” said Luis Miguel Acevedo. “This we believe,” he said, “will make a change.”

According to Luis Miguel Acevedo, the project seeks to train some 8,000 drivers in Santo Domingo during a pilot program which will begin next week and continue to run through the next five months.

Hundreds of young church member volunteers will participate in the massive training of drivers in coordination with the OTTT.

“Once the initial project is completed in Santo Domingo, plans are to follow training in the cities of Santiago, San Francisco de Macoris and Puerto Plata,” Luis Miguel Acevedo said.

The project becomes the fourth major one led by ADRA-Dominican in coordination with the government during the last three years, said Acevedo. ADRA-Dominican has already led massive campaigns against Dengue fever, Cholera outbreak, and illiteracy.

For more information on ADRA Dominican and its projects, visit http://www.adra.org.do/