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General News of Monday, March 25, 2019
Source: clbadfmonline.com
2019-03-25
Kwasi Amoako-Atta
The committee set up by President Nana Akufo-Addo in February 2018 to investigate the cause of road accidents in Ghana after a series of fatal accidents, one of them having killed the young artist of the dance hall Ebony Reigns, the recommended, in addition to making the National Road Safety Commission, she must receive a budget support of 6.50 million GHS "to strengthen education / awareness of the public and training ".
The report also requested an amount of 1.05 billion GHS for the various road agencies – Ghana Highway Authority; Department of Urban Roads; and the Department of feeder roads, "to eliminate the backlog of road signs, road markings, traffic lights and safety barriers on the national highway system".
In its report to the President, the Committee "identified INDISCIPLINE as the main contributing factor to the growing number of road accidents", according to Ms. May Obiri-Yeboah, Executive Director of the National Commission of the Road Safety, which addressed journalists with the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, on Sunday, March 24, 2019.
"This situation has resulted in a total lack of respect for the law of the road and regulations concerning speed of travel, overtaking, driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, long distances. periods of driving, non-compliance with the rules of the road by motorists, including non-wearing other helmets ".
Nearly 70 people lost their lives in two separate crashes on Friday, March 22, 2019, requiring a call from the president for the implementation of the recommendations of the accident report, which also recommended the approval of the accident. a proposal from the Ghana Police Service MTTD "will deploy traffic surveillance camera systems to detect and apprehend speeding, red light and traffic offenses, and remove disabled vehicles from the road ".
Ms. Obiri-Yeboah said on Sunday that: "By letter of April 16, 2018, H.E. President Akufo-Addo approved the proposed working solutions".
Read his full statement below:
On Friday, March 22, 2019, Ghana suffered the misfortune of two road accidents that killed more than 60 people and wounded many others on Techiman – Kintampo and Accra – Cape Coast roads.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, the Board of Directors of the National Road Safety Commission (Commission) and the Road Safety Sub-Sector wish to express our condolences to the families of all those who lost their lives in these accidents tragic. We also wish a quick recovery to all the victims of the various hospitals receiving medical care.
Road accidents have led to an upsurge of road deaths and injuries since the beginning of the year. Available statistics from the Ghanaian Police Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) indicate that between January and the end of February 2019, 411 people were killed and 2,048 injured in road accidents in Ghana.
We recall that in February 2018, after several road accidents, Her Excellency the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, expressed her concern over the carnage on our roads and instructed the ministers of the Interior, Transportation and Roads and Highways to find an effective solution to deal with the threat.
The Committee gave the Chairman his report in which he identified INDISCIPLINE as the main factor contributing to the multiplication of road accidents. This situation resulted in a total lack of respect for the Highway Code, speed, overtaking, driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, long driving periods, no -respect of the Highway Code by motorists, including the non-wearing of the helmet. .
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
The report recommended the following:
1) Transformation of the National Road Safety Commission into an authority and budget support of 6.50 million GHS for the Commission to intensify education and public awareness and training
2) Request for approval of a proposal by the Ghana Police Service to allow the MTTD to:
(a) deploy traffic camera systems to detect and apprehend speed, red light and related traffic offenses, and
b) Remove the broken down vehicles from the road
(3) Application of GOG 1.05 billion for road agencies, Ghana Highway Authority, Urban Roads Department and Servicing Roads Department, to reduce the delay in signaling, beaconing, traffic lights and guard rails on the road. national road network.
By letter of 16 April 2018, H.E. President Akufo-Addo approved the proposed working solutions.
IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTION PLANS
1. The Cabinet approved the memorandum to transform the National Road Safety Commission into a national road safety authority. The Attorney General has completed the draft law and the Ministry of Transport is preparing to engage the relevant parliamentary selection committees. In addition to its current responsibility for public education, the National Board of Road Safety will have to apply road safety standards for the design, construction and use of the road and vehicle. . The Authority will also be responsible for the regulation of commercial transportation operations / services.
2. The Ghana Road Fund has fully committed GHS 6.50 million to the National Road Safety Commission. The Commission has started implementing our part of the action plan and comprehensive road safety training since December 2018 and has, to date, achieved the following objectives:
a) In partnership with the Ghana Association of Journalists, around 110 editors and presenters in Accra, Elmina and Kumasi discussed the need to support road safety advocacy on their different platforms.
(b) In addition, the Commission has partnered with the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association and Ghana Broad Casting Corporation to broadcast audio-visual messages on road safety in over fifty (50) radio and television stations across the country. .
(c) 300 graduates recruited, trained and deployed in the ten (10) regions of Ghana (as it was then) to train drivers, motorcyclists and other road users at 51 strategic locations along the main highways of the country, including truck terminals, toll booths, schools, markets and all public places of communities. In addition, the Commission worked with NABCO to deploy approximately 500 people in terminals and strategic corridors to increase public awareness of road safety best practices.
(d) The Commission, in collaboration with the authority responsible for issuing driving licenses and vehicles and the Department of Road Traffic and Transport, has, inter alia, engaged the Association of Driving Schools, the 39: Certified Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) to train 50,000 drivers of high-risk transport vehicles. working groups as a prelude to the implementation of Highway Traffic Regulation Rule 125, LI 2180, which provides for mandatory retraining and refresher training for commercial vehicle drivers prior to the renewal and / or upgrading of commercial vehicles. their driving license by the DVLA.
In addition to the measures implemented through the additional funds allocated by the Presidency, the other completed and ongoing projects of the Commission are:
1. The installation of road crossing aids commonly known as "lollipop stands" in basic schools in certain regions in order to help schoolchildren cross the road safely. 150 of the 1,000 Lollipop stands planned across the country have been installed.
2. Installation of 8No. First aid posts at the following locations as part of a pilot project to install a hundred (100) total on selected locations to improve emergency response in case of an accident of the road:
a) Asuboi, Bunso, Asankare, Juaso (all on the Accra – Kumasi highway)
b) Toje, near Ada and Nogokpo on the Accra – Aflao road, and
c) Okyereko and Apam Junction on the Accra – Capa highway
3. The Commission bought 10No. each radar guns and alcometers and 4,000 no. Reflective vests worth 1.5 million Swedish kronor to strengthen their enforcement capacity will be forwarded to the MTTD by the end of March 2019.
4. In order to seek essential support for road safety, the Commission has engaged selected political, religious and traditional leaders throughout the country to badist them as goodwill ambbadadors and advocates. .
5. The Commission is reliably informed that the Department of Motor Traffic and Transport has completed preparations for the deployment of its traffic camera systems and is seeking the approval of the Police Council to begin its operations.
The MMDAs of the road agencies and metropolitan, municipal and district bademblies have redoubled their efforts to provide the necessary road signs, road markings and all road safety equipment on the roads, including road signs. Street lighting in their respective jurisdictions.
In the long term, the Commission will intensify its advocacy work with stakeholders to consider the dualisation of some of the major accident-prone roads.
Again, the Commission will work with Ghana's National Ambulance Service, the Ghana Red Cross, the Ghana National Fire Service and all other emergency response services, including the organization. National Disaster Management Authority (NADMO), on the need to put in place an ambulance deployment mechanism and well-known emergency response figures to provide a rapid response to road accident victims.
In conclusion, I wish to take this opportunity to solicit public support for the implementation of some critical road safety interventions. In recent times, we have been confronted with some resistance to the introduction of a road safety measure or the other.
The Commission intends to hold a debate on the implementation of the speed limit regulation, which requires all commercial vehicles to be equipped with speed limiters to manage speeds as a major contributor to accidents. Traffic.
Again, we need to get to the point where the Commission or the authority may be able to sanction transit providers for failing to meet their operating standards, a culture that emphasizes safety and security. of the air transport sector.
To achieve this and many others, the Commission will need the support of all stakeholders, including the media, for our common good.
Road safety is a way of life and a collective responsibility. Transport operators, GPRTU, PROTOA, VIP, VVIP, etc., have a heavy responsibility to ensure that their drivers are well trained and trained periodically. They must ensure at all times that their vehicles are in good working order. Police need to intensify their screening program and pbadengers must denounce life-threatening behavior.
Road users must keep in mind that the use of the road requires knowledge and responsibility. All road users must be disciplined at all times in traffic as drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, pbadengers, etc.
Let's work together to develop this culture that ensures our safety.
Thank you
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