Georgetown : President David Granger at a Stakeholders’ Consultation Meeting on Road Safety, that his participation in the forum was a clear indication of the importance his government places on the issue.
The meeting was hosted by the Guyana National Road Safety Council (GNRSC), in partnership with the Guyana Police Force’s Traffic Department, and the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO). It was convened at the Ocean View International Hotel, Liliendaal.
As he delivered, the feature address President Granger said he was pleased to see the effort being made by the agencies involved in addressing this issue. “When you see in the last 15 years over 2000 Guyanese have been killed on the road it is a serious epidemic, and no government can ignore the death of over 2000 of its citizens in such a short period of time.”
Drawing a comparison to figures of road fatality in Barbados, the President said Guyana has a road fatality rate that is four times higher than that country’s. The President said it is always saddening to attend funerals of those killed in road accidents, noting that such incidents are avoidable and should be prevented at all cost.
“We have to make our roads safer, we have to explore the means, the measures, the methods to reduce injury, risk, deaths of persons on our road ways, and the task of this consultation must be to ensure that in every possible instance we prevent injury and death on the road.”
The President noted that on a yearly basis, accidents cost the government millions of dollars in health care as it was reported some time ago by the WHO in one year; accidents cost the government in excess of $500 M. “…So when all of it is added together you see there is a huge social cost, there is a huge economic cost, there is a huge cost in time and there is a huge cost in public property.”
It is in this light the Head of State called on the entities involved to take a more holistic approach to the issue of road safety in Guyana.
The President also underscored the importance road infrastructure development to keep up with the rapid increase in the number of vehicles being imported. The Head of State pointed out that the importation of used vehicles is also a contributory factor to the road safety problem. The President said it is his belief that taxes on old and used vehicles should be higher than for new vehicles on the basis that, "We must not import inefficiency".
Another burning area of concern, which was raised by the President, is the current system of issuing of a driver’s licence. In too many instances, the President said persons are given licences and are not capable of using the roadways in a proper manner.
The President also addressed the issue of law enforcement as he noted that police officers need to be properly compensated for their work so that they will be focused on enforcing the law instead of taking bribes.
The Head of State also took the opportunity to congratulate the GNRSC for their efforts as he urged them to continue to work together with other stakeholders to address the road safety problem.
Meanwhile Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan who was also in attendance lauded the work of the council as he gave an undertaking that efforts will be made to provide more resources to the organisation as they continue to carry out their mandate.
Currently the GNRSC receives a yearly subvention from the government of $3.5 M and the Minister promised that this will be reviewed with the aim of raising it.
The objective of the meeting was to update stakeholders on the national road safety activities conducted thus far for 2015, to identify gaps in road safety nationally, based on analysis of national data and traffic reports and to develop a work plan for the implementation of priority activities aimed at addressing the gaps.
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