Road Safety Commission Launched

Road accidents occur in Ghana is so regularly nowadays that it is must be difficult to give accurate statistics, since many go unreported. Road accidents probably top among the issues of indiscipline the nation is having to grapple with. It is to deal with this worrying phenomenon that the Commission for Road Safety was launched in the capital yesterday.

The Minister of Roads and Transport, Dr Richard Anane who launched it said every journey begins and ends with the road. But in spite of the advantages which road transport offers, it generates substantial financial loss to the nation through road accidents.

On average 14,000 road accidents occur on our roads annually, leading to 1,600 fatalities and 10,000 persons injured. The Minister said last year there were 10,000 road accidents resulting in 1,300 fatalities and 8,000 persons injured. Lost working hours for 2001 amounted to more than USD 300 million or 2%GNP annually. Dr Richard Anane said it is based such macabre statistics that the Ministry of Roads and Transport in collaboration with all stakeholders involved in road safety development launched in 2001, a five-year national road safety strategy and a two-year action plan. The strategy he said is a broad strategic framework for all road safety activities in the country.

On the functions of the commission Dr. Richard Anane averred that one of the key roles of the commission is to provide strategic direction and focus for the National Road Safety Strategy and Action Plan by monitoring and evaluating its effectiveness. The commission, he added faces enormous challenges partly as a result of the almost exponential increase in road accidents and the fact that the commission is fairly new and stands in dire need of both material and human resources.

The minister advised the members of the commission to work as a team and pool the necessary resources to achieve maximum results. He said the members would be required to be sufficiently knowledgeable about the activities and programmes of the commission and answerable for its actions. The minister pledged govrnment's unfailing support to the commission and stated that appropriate accommodation will be made available for it. The minister urged the insurance sector to assist the commission financially.

In an acceptance remark by the chairman of the commission Mr Johnson Hayford Aboagye, he said that over the years our road safety regulations have been abused. He promised that the commission would demonstrate in word and in deed that it is really committed to safety on our roads and asked the public to be supportive.