Western Police declares November as strict enforcement month
The Western Regional Police Command has declared November as strict enforcement of Road Traffic Regulations to curtail the spate of accidents in the region
Deputy Commissioner of Police Kofi Boakye, the Western Regional Police Commander, said the Police Service November 1 to 14 would be the period of education and awareness creation whilst November 15 to December and beyond would be strict enforcement phase.
He said the Police Service would not be perturbed by unwarranted demonstrations that might be organised by the various transport unions as a means to frustrate their commitment in ensuring road safety.
He said this during an award Ceremony organized by the Western Regional Office of the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) to honour transport and some media organisations for their contribution towards safety on the roads.
DCOP Boakye said there was no minor or severe offence as the least mistake on the part of the driver could lead to deaths and injuries.
He said police personnel would therefore be schooled on the enforcement of the law to ensure that they did their work in a more civil, humble and respectful manner.
Alhaji Sumani Mbo, Western Regional manager of the NRSC, said the last three quarters of this year had recorded 679 crashes involving 899 vehicles with 131 deaths and 748 injuries.
He said though there had been some improvement over the previous year, there was the need for effective implementation of the Strategy Three which is about safety in all aspects of the transport industry to be effectively implemented.
Mr. Alfred Ekow Gyan, the Deputy WEStern Regional Minister, said road crashes takes over 6.5 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product in procuring drugs and machines for health care.
“These gruesome road accidents had been attributed to human errors, vehicle breakdown, non- road worthy vehicles and environmental factors like poor roads network and weather”, he said.
The Minister appealed to the award winners to serve as role models to their colleagues in the transport business so as to collectively fight road crashes.
The Ghana Private Road Transport Union emerged winners and was presented with assorted road items amounting to GHc9, 000, whiles Metro Mass Transport took the second position with items worth GHc 5000 and PROTOA placing third with goods worth GHC4000.
Source: GNA