Mr. Mark Amoamah, President of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) has called on the government to initiate effective road safety management systems to reduce road accidents ahead of the festive seasons. He said the country recorded a high number of road crashes during festive seasons, hence the need for transport agencies including the National Road Safety Authority and Motor Traffic and Transport Department to take the necessary steps to curb the rising situation. Mr Amoamah made the call during a symposium on Public Transport in Accra and said law enforcement needed to be enforced strictly. It was on the theme, ‘A Review of Ghana’s Public Transport System; Moving from Vehicle-Centered Policy to Human-Centred Policy.’ He said even though other transport agencies had already begun the campaign, it was also important for agencies to be proactive, by instituting measures including education and sensitisation of transport operators. ‘Two months to December and it is expected that somewhere at the beginning of the third quarter we want to see these agencies begin to institute what we call the road traffic safety campaigns. It should start early in the year, about the beginning of October to ring bells in the ears of commercial and private operators, he said.’ The President said inadequate infrastructure, lack of coordination among stakeholders, and the prevalence of unsafe driving practices leading to accidents had been some of the key reasons for the high-road accidents. ‘It is evident that these challenges affect the quality of life of people, particularly the vulnerable and disadvantaged,’ he added. He said, that with constructive dialogue and collaboration, current issues would be addressed by forging a way forward that places the needs of humans at the heart of transportation planning. Mr Cletus Kuzagbe, Prefect of CILT Fellows called for the need to bring back the Ministry of Road and Transport as overseers of Ghana’s transport system. ‘There is a need to bring back the Ministry of Road and Transport because their ideas are coordinated where we have all the transport modes together: air, rail, sea, road where those agencies put their heads together and see how they can integrate.’
Source: Ghana News Agency
