The Ministry of Roads and Highways says it is working assiduously with relevant stakeholders in the transport sector to achieve the decade of action for road safety to reduce, at least 50 percent of road traffic accidents by 2030.
Ms. Mavis Nkansah-Boadu, Deputy Minister of Roads and Highways, gave the assurance in her remarks during the 18th International Road Federation (IRF) World Meeting and Exhibition held in Dubai, the United Arab Emirate.
Speaking during a panel discussion with renowned practitioners from Puerto Rico, South Korea, UAE, and USA, she gave an account of what the government of Ghana had been able to achieve during the past decade of action from 2010 to 2020.
She indicated that although the average annual road fatalities over the past 10 years were 1,500 persons, adding, this number could have been worse if government had not taken certain tough measures.
Some of the measures she said were the intensive road user education, improved funding towards road construction, improved enforcement by the Police, and significant funding towards the emergency response system in which the government procured ambulances to all districts in the country.
According to Ms. Nkansah-Boadu, within the next decade of action which begins from this year to 2030, government will focus on a safe system approach towards road safety, adding that, “We will continue to prioritise safety when it comes to road design and construction.”
“The Ministry of Roads and Highways will also ensure that roads constructed are inclusive and forgiving while placing emphasis on dualisation of major highways,” she said, stressing that putting modalities in place to regulate motorcycles and tricycles to ensure safe use.
Ms. Nkansah-Boadu stated that sensitisation and education of all road users would also be intensified while road safety intervention would be data-driven.
As such, she called on all the actors within the road safety space; National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Roads and Highways, Law Enforcement Bodies, Building and Road Research Institutions (BRRI), Academic Institutions, Research Institutions, Public and Private Road Transport Unions, Non-Governmental Organisations, the Media and Civil Society Organisations, to get involved towards the realisation of this vision.
The Deputy Minister was accompanied by the Director of Policy and Planning, Mrs. Rita Ohene Sarfoh, the President of the Ghana Institution of Engineering, Professor Charles Anum Adams, the West and Southern Africa Manager of the International Roads Federation, Dr. Patrick Amoah Bekoe, a Senior Engineer at the Policy and Planning Directorate, Akwasi Agyemang Boakye and an Administrator at Ministry of Roads and Highways, Ms. Agnes Obenewaa.
BY TIMES REPORTER
