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NRSA holds w/shop for stakeholders

The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has sensitised stakeholder public institutions on the new mandate of the NRSA Act (Act 2019) in Accra as part of its mandate to promote and regulate road safety activities.

The sensitisation was aimed at explaining the new Act and its ramifications to all stakeholders of road safety for a better understanding and their roles in the new mandate for effective road transportation system in the country.

Participants included the National Insurance Commission (NIC), Attorney General’s Department, Ministry of Information, National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), National Ambulance Service, Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA), and the Motor Transport and Traffic Directorate (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service, among others.

Speaking at a workshop last Thursday in Accra, Board Chairman of NRSA, Reverend Ismaila Awudu, said despite efforts of all stakeholders in the transport sector to reduce road carnage and fatalities, it had not yielded the desired results.

The Authority’s mandate, he said, was reviewed to have an additional mandate to regulate activities, procedures and standards related to road safety and to provide for related matters.

“It is important to recognise that our transport sector over the years, irrespective of stakeholders’ involvement and support to make sure that the carnage on our roads and fatalities rate are reduced, championed by the National Road Safety Authority, has not yielded much result, though a lot of resource, engineering and enforcement has gone into it.

“It is for this reason, the government realised that, for the transport sector to be very effective and road carnages and fatalities to be reduced, the then commission needed to be upgraded into an authority status,” he said.

Rev. Awudu called on all stakeholders to come on board for effective collaboration to help reduce the carnages on our roads.

Head of Regulations, Inspection and Compliance, NRSA, Kwame Koduah Atuahene, said the new Act mandated the Authority to develop a comprehensive plan for the promotion of road safety activities in collaboration with stakeholders, undertake nationwide road safety education, campaign and publicity, collaborate with other relevant agencies to promote studies, research, surveys and analysis for road safety improvement, among others.

“The Authority shall coordinate and collaborate with public and private organisations to initiate, develop and conduct formal and non-formal education programmes for the creation of public awareness of road safety and its socio-economic importance and educate road users on particular hazards,” he stated.

David Osafo Adonteng, Director for Planning and Programmes, NRSA, said available statistics showed there had been a reduction in fatalities and pedestrian knockdowns as compared to previous years and called for more collaboration to tackle the canker.

BY CLAUDE NYARKO ADAMS

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