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Group threatens demo over delay in passing Road Safety Act into law

About 70 people perished in an accident involving a Metro Mass bus and a cargo truck

According to the group, the Act, which is designed to improve road safety and help achieve casualty reduction targets of those killed and seriously injured as well as for children, has been in parliament for the past three years.

The call of the Coalition comes on the back of the recent road crash at Kintampo which claimed over 60 lives.

A statement by the group said "We also wish to serve notice that we have begun a massive nationwide agenda to rally Ghanaians to support this bill. Hence, we will not hesitate to mobilize the strength of our numbers to engage in protests and mass demonstrations against the Parliament of Ghana if this bill is not immediately brought back to the floor of the house and passed into law."

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Below is the full statement:

WE ARE DISAPPOINTED; PARLIAMENT MUST PASS THE ROAD SAFETY ACT NOW!

The number of contributions on radio, television, print media and social media following the death in recent times of more than 60 people in the gory accident that happened on the Kintampo-Tamale road involving a Metro Mass bus and a truck is enough evidence of the cost to the country both in economic, human and social terms of deaths and injuries caused by road accidents. Road accidentscan best be described as the “most deadly disease” in Ghana today, as a result of its tremendous effect on human lives, properties and the environment.

Indeed, this avoidableenemy is voraciously devouring our human and economic resources with precious lives being lost and thereby, dwindling our scarce labour force in the country and adversely affecting our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). There are many media reports that reveal that Ghana's road accident is oddly high among developing countries. In 2001, for example, Ghana was rated as the second highest road traffic accident-prone nation among 6 West African countries, with 73 deaths per 1000 accidents.On the average, Ghana records about 10,000 fatal road traffic accidents, every year, out of which 1,600 people perish while 15,000 are seriously injured, robbing the nation of some precious lives. Such persons may die or become incapacitated, denying them the ability to contribute to the nation's development meaningfully. Already, Ghana loses about 2% of her GDP annually due to road accidents.

It is in this context that the COALITION FOR ROAD SAFETY–GHANA (CRS-Gh) finds it unacceptable and unbelievable that up till date, the Parliament of Ghana has not passed the ROAD SAFETY ACTwhich has been in the chambers of the august house for more 3 years.This Act is designed to improve road safety and help achieve casualty reduction targets of those killed and seriously injured as well as for children.

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We recall that in response to the clarion national call by the late President John Evan Atta-Mills for a public-private partnership approach to halt the carnage on our roads, a Ghanaian-owned private company, the Road Safety Management Services Limited (RSMSL), was launched in February 2012. The RSMSL was required to manage and reduce to the barest minimum the rate of road casualties on the roads. The firm subsequently specialized in towing services with state-of-the-art tow trucks, ambulance services and the installation of rest stops/depots along the highways to respond to traffic accidents.The tow trucks were to be used in towing abandoned vehicles on the roads, while the ambulances would provide immediate medical attention to accident victims.

This road safety project by the RSMSL, has the Ministries of Transport, Roads and Highways, Interior and Finance as  public partners while the collaborating agencies include the    Ghana Highway Authority, the Ghana Police Service, the National Road Safety Commission the Metropolitan Municipal and District Assemblies and other transport agency stakeholders such as GPRTU, PROTOA and others.

The project was piloted for two years (between 2012 and 2014), after which the Road Safety Act was supposed to be passed. There is ample evidence to show that within that same period, road accident rates were drastically reduced and emergency services were promptly made available to victims in road accidents across the country. This can easily be corroborated by the National Road Safety Commission. Sadly, the Road Safety Act which would have fully operationalized this project, has been stalled in Parliament for more than 3years. This project alone has the potential of employing more than 3,000 persons across the country.

It is very instructive to note that the Metro Mass Transit Company recently published that they are in need of towing services since they have to move their faulty buses from the roads to a designated workshop for maintenance. Well, the RSMSL has maintenance points / safety centres along  all the highways in the country, including Kintampo. If the RSMSL had been engaged and activated after the pilot project, the driver of the Metro Mass bus could have used such a service and avoided that gory accident.

Today, even the Ghana Police Service has just one towing vehicle which serves the entire nation. This is clearly not acceptable.

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WHY HAS THE RSMSL OR ANY OTHER FIRM NOT BEEN ENGAGED?

We, the COALITION FOR ROAD SAFETY-GHANA (CRS-Gh) are appalled that such a very sensitive matter such as road safety, has not caught the urgent attention of the Parliament of Ghana. This is a shame! We are hesitant in believing that this obviously important Act has been subjected to the usual partisan political considerations. Madam Ursula Owusu, a Member of Parliament is on record to have publicly declared that the bill is before Parliament but it will not be passed. While her disjointed views may not necessary reflect the position of Parliament, we are are utterly disappointed in Parliament for not passing this bill!

We are by this press ;

The quest to achieve total development in the Ghanaian economy may become a daydream, if road traffic accidents continue to consume the illustrious sons and daughters of mother Ghana. Our nation needs the contributions of every individual to progress and Parliament has a sacred duty to heed to this call in order to reduce the carnage on our roads to the barest minimum.

We shall therefore, deploy all the legal and necessary arsenals at our disposal against any attempt to unduly further delay the passage of this bill. The Parliament of Ghana must rise to this occasion to be counted as having been instrumental in confronting the terrifying road traffic accidents in Ghana.

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Indeed, every life is in danger as long as the passage of the ROAD SAFETY ACT delays!

Thank you.

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