The Danish Ambassador to Ghana, Ms Margit Thomsen, has called on the government to consider putting in place strict measures in the area of vehicle testing and inspection to reduce the increasing number of carnages on major roads in the country.
She was speaking at the launch of Elie Company Limited, a vehicle testing station in Tema.
According to her, the government is expected to ensure that efforts are made to monitor and regulate agencies under the Ministry of Transport to provide the needed advice and expertise for Ghanaians to enjoy better transport services.
She noted that the Danish government was ready to partner the Government of Ghana to improve quality transport practices and as such decided to introduce the state-of-the-art vehicle testing facility to solve problems confronting the transport sector.
Ms Thomsen observed that when that was implemented, job opportunities would be enhanced, businesses would thrive and consciousness about regular and strict adherence to better vehicle testing and monitoring systems would improve to save lives and property.
She added that the Danish Government was in talks with the Government of Ghana to provide training programmes for staff of such agencies under the ministry to equip them to effectively manage and provide better vehicle services for their clients, most of whom were drivers.
The Minister of Transport, Mrs Dzifa Attivor, reiterated the government’s continuous readiness to partner the private sector to develop Ghana's road and transport sector in the area of vehicle safety for the benefit of the government and people of Ghana.
The minister added that while the government would spend less on crash-related medical care due to reduction in crashes, productivity would also be greatly enhanced, as Ghanaians would also not lose as many loved ones and breadwinners as the case was in the past.
She mentioned that the government's policy on public-private partnership across the economy, including the Ministry of Transport, had shown extreme benefits and for that reason the need for the establishment of ECL, the fifth vehicle testing and inspection station at Dawhenya near Tema.
Mrs Attivor said over the years, vehicle imports had greatly increased from an annual average of 10 per cent in the early 2000s to the current 14 per cent, an indication which required safety standards, practices and systems that were devoid of human influence and interference to guarantee a high percentage of vehicle health, translating into safe and roadworthy motor vehicles.