Govt approves GH¢6.5m for road safety campaign
The government has given approval for the release of GH¢6.5 million from the Road Fund to promote road safety campaign.
The move is part of government’s efforts to increase road safety education to minimise road crashes drastically in the country.
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The Minister of Transport, Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, made this known in a speech read on his behalf at the 2018 annual general meeting (AGM) and the continuous professional development programme of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) Ghana in Accra last Thursday.
“An inter-ministerial body was set up by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to come up with an action plan to curb the menace. In this regard, the President has given approval for the release of GH¢6.5 million from the Road Fund to the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) to promote safety education,” he said.
The theme for this year’s programme was “Logistics and transport: a catalyst for national development.”
Accidents
Five hundred and ninety-two people were killed, while 3,348 were injured in road traffic fatalities in the country in the first quarter of 2018.
The victims, made up of 439 males and 153 females, perished in 5,348 crashes recorded within the same period.
Of the 439 males killed, 390 were above 18 years and 49 below 18, while out of the 153 females who died, 114 were above 18 years and 39, below 18.
The number of people who were killed in the first 90 days of this year is 11.7 per cent more over the 530 persons who lost their lives in road accidents within the same period in 2017.
Data
Data released by the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service indicated that 20,444 vehicles were involved in road crashes, resulting in 2,076 deaths in 2017.
Commendation
Mr Asiamah commended the leadership of CILT Ghana for providing policy advice in various areas such as the paperless ports system, trade facilitation and national vehicle towing regulation.
According to the President of CILT Ghana, Mr Ebo Hammond, the data released by the MTTD also showed that nearly one person died in a road accident every day.
“However, using 2013 as the base year, the deaths per day after five years only improved marginally by 1.2 per cent, an indication that not much has been done to reduce road accidents,” he said.
In view of that, Mr Hammond lauded the government’s quick response for the release of the funds to curb the carnage on the country’s roads.
As an institute, Mr Hammond said, CILT would continue to offer policy advice to the government through various fora to enhance Ghana’s transport sector.
Supply chain challenges
Earlier in a presentation, a legal practitioner and maritime law and management consultant, Dr Kofi Mbiah, said Ghana was facing many challenges in supply chain management.
He said many industries would continue to be threatened if they failed to take advantage of the wind of change that was blowing in the sector.