Accra, Sept. 3, GNA - The National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) on Wednesday inaugurated a call centre in an effort to promote compliance with road safety regulations, reduce traffic contraventions, identify regular

traffic offenders and increase the quality of traffic information. "The call centre will focus on answering inbound calls from anywhere in the country on road safety related enquiries, complaints and emergencies and it is toll free to the caller on Kasapa 10800 and Ghana Telecom 0800-10800," said Mr. Magnus Opare-Asamoah, Deputy Minister of Roads and Transportation. The website of the centre and all other road safety related issues is www.nrsc.gov.gh. Speaking at the launch of the call centre on Wednesday, he said the initiative formed part of the NRSC Strategy 11, which mandated the commission to set up the centre.

He noted that reports on traffic violations and emergencies would be quickly relayed from the call centre to the relevant traffic emergency services for follow-ups, verification and timely response. "This facility has the full compliment of key agencies such as the Ghana Police Service, Fire Service, Regional Road Safety Coordinators, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority and all the other road agencies," he added.

Mrs May Obiri Yeboah, Head of Training of NRSC, called on the public to feel free to call the centre for traffic information since competent staff had been trained to answer their calls. The centre, which is on a pilot basis, is located on the premises of the NRSC and it would operate from 0800-1700 on weekdays and all other calls would be directed to the emergency services.

Mr Noble John Appiah, Executive Director of the NRSC, said Ghana was the first country in the West African sub-region and second to South Africa in Africa to adopt the call centre initiative by their road safety outfits. He appealed to the public not to abuse the essence of the call centre by calling to report irrelevant issues.