Puma Energy hands over 2 pedestrian crossings to St Joseph Anglican School
As part of its initiatives to promote child road safety in Africa and Ghana in particular, Puma Energy has handed over two newly constructed pedestrian crossings to the St Joseph Anglican School at Bubuashie in Accra.
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They come with thick markings on the stretch of the Bubuashie road in front of the school and two pairs of lollipops at both sides to be raised by children whenever they have to cross the road.
The initiative is meant to prompt drivers to stop whenever the students are crossing the road.
The project is part of the Child Road Safety Programme (CRSP) instituted by the Puma Energy Foundation, AMEND International and VALD, all non-governmental organisations.
It was implemented in collaboration with the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC).
Handover ceremony
At the handover ceremony in Accra, the Managing Director of Puma Energy, Mr Myles Bouvier-Baid, said the pedestrian crossings were constructed in response to pleas from the school authorities.
He said they were meant to improve the safe crossing of the road by the children anytime of the day, on their way to and from school.
Mr Bouvier-Baid indicated that Puma Energy believed strongly a that every child had the right to safe journey to school, a situation he said a lot of children usually struggled with.
“It is for this reason that the CRSP was introduced as part of Puma Energy’s commitment to improve road safety for children,” he stated.
“As a key player in society, the private sector has an important role to play in supporting safe school journeys,” he added.
So far, Mr Bouvier-Baid said 57 schools in the Greater Accra Region had benefited from the initiative, adding that plans were far advanced to extend it to other schools and districts in the country.
According to him, Puma Energy was also working hard to extend it to more than 10 countries in Africa “which is estimated to affect over 15,000 children”.
Education
Some officials from the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service and the NRSC were also there to educate the children and drivers on how to use the road.
The Executive Director of the NRSC, Mrs May Obiri Yeboah, commended Puma Energy for the initiative.
She advised drivers to desist from speeding when approaching pedestrian crossings, adding that the commission was putting measures in place to deal ruthlessly with drivers who flout the law.
The Headmistress of the school, Mrs Rose Akuffo, expressed appreciation to the Puma Energy Foundation for support, and pledged that the school’s authorities would do its best to educate the children on how to use the zebra crossing.