The government has been urged to establish a centralised database to monitor the flow of traffic in the country to help reduce road accidents.
The use of a scientific approach to reduce road carnages in the country to a minimum level, according to Maximum Growth Africa (MGA), a Civil Society Organisation, would further promote discipline on the roads.
Speaking at the opening of the third Transport Haulage and Road Safety Conference and Exhibition (THROSA CONFLEX) in Accra on Wednesday, Mr Francis A. Kwaidoo, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MGA, said it was very important for the authorities to strictly implement measures that would mitigate the risk of casualties and wastage of lives and properties across the country.
The conference was organised by MGA on the theme: ‘Promoting a centralised database system to mitigate road crashes and ensure productivity and national safety.’
The conference, which was meant to brainstorm on challenges and opportunities in the transportation management system of the country, was attended by representatives from the energy sector, security services and the Red Cross Society.
According to Mr Kwaidoo, revenue accrued from traffic related offences could be used to promote economic development and deter others from becoming culprits, thereby protecting lives and properties.
He stated that showing commitment at all levels and using technology to address road carnage in Ghana would put the country at a privileged position “to achieve our various strategic targets”.
Ghana, he said, was experiencing a boom in the transport sector, adding that the rail and aviation sectors were designing synergies for infrastructural development and expansion of the economy.
Mr Kwaidoo, therefore, called on professionals to come on board to structure innovation, environmental safety and technical competence into this new system of development.
“Let us all come together and contribute our quota towards improving safety in the transport industry, especially the roads in the country,” he added.
In his presentation, the board chairman of State Transport Corporation (STC), Mr Samuel Oppong, indicated that it was long overdue for Ghana to have a database system to reduce road carnage, saying accident rates kept worsening by the day and would not stop until scientific measures were put in place to salvage the situation.
Mrs Mariam Eduful, Safety Manager of the Power Distribution Service (PDS), in her presentation, indicated that institutions must ensure they procured and sustained all company vehicles, adding that driving guidelines must be established to guide drivers on how to become safe road users.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) and the various security agencies, she said, must be well-equipped, so that they could respond appropriately to emergency situations.
In his address, the group CEO of Auto Parts Limited, Mr Subhi Accad, observed that Ghana was gradually becoming a dumping site for rejected vehicles from developed countries, adding that such vehicles were among the causes of road crashes in the country.
BY RAISSA SAMBOU AND ALBERTA BRONI
