Accra to benefit from $125m global project to prevent road accidents
Mr Djangma Vanderpuije, the Deputy Minister of Greater Accra Region, has expressed worry about the alarming rate of road accidents in the country.
He said statistics available from the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) indicated that 3,457 road accidents were recorded in 2013, comprising 237 fatal and 588 serious injuries, resulting in a number of deaths.
Mr Vanderpuije said this at the launch of the “Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety,” an initiative by Michael Bloomberg Foundation in the United States.
Under the initiative 10 selected cities in the world, including Accra, would benefit from a $125 million dollar package to reduce fatalities and injuries from road crashes worldwide.
Mr Vanderpuije said the statistics indicated that the major causes of road deaths were due to speeding, wrongful overtaking and fatigue, of which Accra was declared the highest.
He lauded the vision of Dr Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, the Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive, for being a staunch advocate of road safety and his commitment to correcting the canker on the roads of Accra.
He expressed gratitude to the Bloomberg Foundation for for selecting Accra to benefit from the road safety package.
Dr Alfred Oko Vanderpuije advocated for vigorous public sensitisation to change attitude, adding that: “I believe that roads are made to improve lives and not to truncate the lives of people.”
He said the Accra Metropolitan Assembly initiated the “Let the Traffic Flow” project in 2011 to decongest the city of vehicular and human traffic and facilitate easy movement of people, goods and services.
Madam Kelly Larson, a representative of Bloomberg Foundation, said with a new commitment of 125 million dollars, the programme would see mass media campaigns, training of police officers and other relevant city staff for five years.
“We can prevent millions of road traffic fatalities and injuries through stronger laws, effective enforcement and better infrastructure,” he said.
Source: GNA