Forum seeks to search policy options for road safety in Gambia Africa » Gambia Friday, September 20, 2013 The Ministry of Transport, Works and Infrastructure in collaboration with the Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Policy (SSATP) Thursday convened a daylong workshop in Kololi, meant to devise policy options to improve road safety in The Gambia. The initiative, supported by the World Bank, was described as important in the drive towards combating road-related accidents in the country. In his remarks, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Transport, Works and infrastructure, Abdoulie Camara, described the move as laudable, commending the Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Policy for engaging the government in a policy dialogue with the singular aim of improving road safety in the country. “You will all agree with me that without the appropriate policy framework strategies to improving road safety, it will be very difficult for any country to combat unnecessary road carnage. Thus, the timing of the workshop is opportune in that, presently, we are searching for policy options to improve road safety in the country,” he stated. The permanent secretary stressed the need for attention to focus on the pressing problems of road safety, lamenting that the deaths and injuries sustained in road-related accidents are increasing rapidly in poorer nations in contrast to richer countries where the menace is slowly decreasing. “The victims and survivors are often young, leaving families to cope with the loss of a breadwinner,” he further stated, noting that in high income countries, most victims and survivors are vehicle occupants. He informed that recently, his Ministry, together with all other concerned stakeholders, constituted a multi-sectorial committee on road safety, to study the existing situation in the country and make recommendations for improvement. The programme coordinator of East and sub-Saharan Africa Transport Policy, Justin Runji, said his organisation seeks to promote transport policies that are pro-poor and pro-growth. He noted that one of its flagship operations was the road sector reform in the eighties and nineties. “It is estimated that the cost of road crashes in sub-Saharan Africa amounts to more than the combined Official Development Aid for Infrastructure. Clearly, the road safety scourge has the potential to seriously erode the economic gain that the transport sector has strived to generate,” he revealed. The coordinator concluded with an assurance that his organisation is committed to this collaboration in the quest of improving road safety in the country. The human resources manager at the National Roads Authority (NRA), Bai Bittaye, urged the participants to contribute positively towards the development of road safety policy. Author: Arfang Camara
Posted on: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 11:36:15 +0000