Road Safety Team Pays Courtsey Call At State House
A three-man Road Safety Technical Team from the Federal Road Safety Commission of Nigeria on Tuesday paid a courtesy call to the Secretary of President Koroma at State House.
The team, which was invited by the Sierra Leone Roads Transport Authority (SLRTA), comprised of the Commissioner, Deputy Corp Marshall Boboye Oyeyemi, Corp Commander Clement Oladelay and Assistant Corp Commander Ladam Shehu.
The team is in Sierra Leone on a two-week working visit through the request of the Executive Director of SLRTA, Dr. Sarah Finda Bendu to the Nigeria Road Safety Commission through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Sierra Leone for technical assistance in the area of road safety and related matters.
The visit is to find solutions to the frequent road accidents that have claimed the lives of many Sierra Leoneans and foreigners as well as assess the road safety situation in the country and address them.
The team was accompanied by the SLRTA Executive Director, Dr. Sarah F. Bendu and other Senior Officials to State House and the Office of the Vice President to make a presentation on how they intend to collaborate with Sierra Leone to implement road safety regulations.
Deputy Corp Marshall Boboye Oyeyemi Team leader from Nigeria commended the SLRTA for implementing the Road Safety Policy and Sierra Leone Road Safety Strategies, which aimed at ensuring effective road safety strategies in the country.
Boboye Oyeyemi observed that Sierra Leone is yet to have a post-crash system; and advised that government should work with the United Nation’s World Health Organization to help with the training and provision of paramedics.
He recommended that they are willing for The Federal Republic of Nigeria to send three officials to help in the restructuring of the SLRTA and ensure road safety standards in the country.
He revealed that there must be the political will to achieve this goal. They noted that the government needs to come in on road funding, to ensure that the SLRTA and each road contractor gives at least 10% of their project cost for road safety enforcement.
Boboye Oyeyemi further disclosed that part of the money he noted, would go towards the purchase of equipment. “There must be the political will to compel the citizens of Sierra Leone to adhere to road safety laws and regulations so as to ensure SLRTA achieve its desired goal,” he asserted. He further advised government officials to be law abiding in order to reduce road crashes.
As when these will be achieved, they noted that the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is willing to sign a memorandum of Understanding with the SLRTA for a period of two years.
According to SLRTA’s Public Relations Officer, Abdul Karim Dumbuya, the team is also in the country to among others assess the road safety situation and advice accordingly and intimated that the delegation would also hold discussions with various stakeholders and State functionaries including the Inspector General of Police, Francis Alieu Munu and the Mayor of the Freetown City Council, Franklyn Sam Gibson, on road safety.
Various stakeholders in the road transport sector have confirmed to this medium that Dr. Sarah Bendu and management have made frantic efforts to minimize road accidents in the country as statistics indicate.
They further underscored that the management of SLRTA has made road safety a priority in transforming the institution.
Bedor Kamara
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