DAILY OBSERVER Tuesday, May 14th,2013 Page t

NATIONAL NEWS

Fran$[on ministe]: Accident related deaths0n the increase in Roorer nations

bA Arfqng Camara

;-11he minister of Transport, Works

I and In f ras t ruc tu re has s t ressedL tlre nccd for attentions to focus on

:h^ p ress ing prob lenrs o f road sa fe ty ,ia r : .e r t ing tha t the deaths and in ju r iessustained in road related accidents areincreas ing rap id ly in poorer na t ions incontraot to richer countries where themenae is slowly dmreasing.

Francis Litti Mboge was speaking on Saturday.:l tLe Chambe6 ofthe National Assembly dudngcelebrations marking the Global Road SafetyWeek.

Organised alongside the rrth anniversary ofthe National Youth Parliament, this year's com-mernomtion which took the form of a street car-nival from the Edward Francis Small Monument/o 'vn to the Nat iona l Assenb ly Chrmbersf . r , : r , s r d on thc thcmc, " l ' cdcs t r ian S$f t l y " .

' l ' lre minixtcr disclosed thul cech ycar, ntrrelh{r 27o, (xx} po(l(!rtri lni !r ic t l lr ir l ivci or t lrcwrrld'r rrrrlr, notirrl thlt nrnny urrrLl lr lvc tlr irhonrrr rlr lrry ;1ivrn dry trr rchrrrl ot work rrxlIrvrr rstrrrtr l lo rltrr ' lrrql t|trt lhrlnlly, pulcs"lrtnrr rrtrlr l l lulr lz.|6 ol rl l ronrl dqtthr. inrl irtt-!rI t lLil l I r0nrr (rrurlriei lhrr prop{rrta(trt is eslrl l tr ! i lwo tlrrrt lr "Mrllronr nrorc lrr: injurcd int r r l l i t r r l r l r r l c r r rh r r w l r i l c w l l k ing , so tnr : o fwhrlu lxurnn lrrnrrncntly disubk:d, These roadm:itlcntr caucc rnuch sLrffcring and grief u wcllr r cconomic h r rdsh ip fo r fami l ies and lovedoncs," he statcd.

The Translxrrt minister also observed that vic-tims of rord rclated accidents are often young,thus leaviug familie to cope with the loss of abreadwinner . He there fore s t ressed tha t the 'capacity to respond to pedestrian safety is animportant component of effofts to prevent rcadtraffic injuils.

'Pedestrian collisions, like other road trafficcrashes, should not be accepted as inevitablebecause they are, in fact, both predictable and

pwcntrble," he streesed.Minirtcr Mboge observed that key risks to

p('dcstrians are related to a broad range of fac-to rs such as dr iver behav iour in re la t ion tospceding, drink-driving; infrutructure in termsof lack of dedicated facilities for pedestrians, mwell as poor care services in nuny settings thatthwart efforts to provide urgeut medical treat-ment.

He however acknowledged that.over the yeamthey have seen sitnif icant improvement in thecountry's road safety, thanks to efforts of suchorganisations r the National Youth Parliamant(NYP).

Government's commitmentThe minister used the opportunity to redsure

the commitment of The Gambia government torcad safety effons, while applauding the leader-ship for its support in this regard. 'I must takethis opportunity to salute our visionary leader,H.E Sheikh Prcfessor Alhaji Dr. Yahya Jmmeh,

wilhout whose vision, support and encourage-ment we ennot attain the level we are today. ltwould be worthwhile to note tlat the presidenthas deep rcnern for unnece$ary and prflenta-ble carnages on our roads. Under his directive,my ministry m tasked with onstituting a mul-ti-sectoral committee to study the problems ofroad safety in the country and make recommen-dations accordintly," he concludecl.

Represent in t the speaker o f the Nat iona lAssembly, the National Assembly nrember forBanjul Central, Honourable Abdoulie Saine, said

.the theme is apt as the safety of ped$trians basbeome a great conem of recent.

He stre$ed the need for policy makers to comewith a road safety declaration for the use of all.

The executive secretary of the National YouthCouncil, Abubacarr A Sisawo, who deputised forthe minister of Youth and Sports, said issus ofroad safety are a concern for them, and urgeddrivers to be cautious about pedesrians, con-demning the "recklcs' attitude of some driven

towards pedestrians, saying some are eitherdrunk or smoking while driving.

Sisarc hailed NYP for the good initiative andassured of the Ministry's support to this cause.

The chairperson of NYP, Jainaba Faye, whospoke earlier, aplained that the NYP is an advo-cacy, dev€lopment-oriented and motivationalorganisation established to bring together all therelevant stakeholders to contribute to nationaldevelopment.

She told the Batherint that one of their objec-tivs is to address all forms of social vices, espe-cially prejudice and discrimination.

Faye infomed that their mission is to build abetter Cambia with effecti./e participation ofinfomed and epacitated young people.

Commenting on issuc surrounding road dis-asters, she disclosed that a total of5r20 mad traf-6c accidents occurred between the years zooo-2oo9. "Out ofthis figure, 3715 are male and r4o5are female,' she reporteds.

by Jcutl'urilCollcy

Ncwly t l cc ted counc i lo rs d rswn f rom theI t r r r ju l C i ty Counc i l (BCC) and the Kan i f ingMunicipal Council (KMC) on Monday began atwo-day capacity building seminar on the 2oo2Lacal Covemment Act and human rights, at theconference ha l l o f The Assoc ia t ion o f Non-Governmental Organisation at Fajara.

Organised by the National Council for CivicEducation (NCCE), the synerty is part of effortsto support awarenss creation through effectivecommunication and advocacy interyention one lec tora l r igh ts , c iv ic educat ion and humandghts at all levels.

Speaking at the msion, the permanent secre-tary at the Ministry of Regional Gowrnment and

Lands, Saikou K. Sanyang said the objetive ofthe workshop is to etrable the councilors dis-charge their duties and responsibil i t ies witl inthe onfins of the law.

Pointing to the high priority that the pr$identof the Republic accorded council matters, PSSanyang stated that the government did not onlysingle handedly finance local government elec-tions, but also provided the necessary humanand material support.

He used the platform to congratulate theNCCE on organising the training, while com-mend ing the Un i ted Nat ions Deve lopmentP r o g r a m m e ( U N D P ) a n d t h e A c t i o n A i dIn te rna t iona l The Ganrb ia fo r f inanc ing thetraining.

The ac t ing cha i rman o f NCCE, A lha j i

Momodou M. Joof, for his part, congratulatedthe elected and nominated ouncilom on what heca l led the i r we l l deserved pos i t ions . Heexpressed hope that they will be resourceful intheir efforts towards national development andthe attainment of the Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs).

He concluded by advising the councilors to dotheir work effectively and be accommodative tofeedback given to them as repr$entatives of thepmple.

The acting executive director of Action AidInternational Th€ Cambia (AAITG), Kebba Sima,informed the gathering that the UNDP and theMin is t ry o f F inance and Econon ic A f fa i rs(MOFEA) had signed MoU with his institutionto jointly undertake aod support training pro-

.,.tlti i rii: r

... lS San-yalg :,,flir,,rgran)mes for local government area councils.

Underscoring the imponance of the trainingSima said it targets people who act as th€ inter-face between the nrruses and the govemment. Hestrc$ed that it is impcrative for the representa-tives to b€ awarc of and understand the contento f k e y p o l i c y i n s t r u m e n t s s u c h a s L o c a lGovernment Act 2oo2 and its decentralisationprocess, amongst others.

A 38-year -o ld w idow and res ident o f NewYundum in the West Coast Reg ion , recent lyw a l k e d i n t o t h e o f f i c e s o f t h e D a i l yObscruer company to tequest for assisiancer , , ' r r b l e h e r n e e t t h e c h a l l e n s e s o f t h e' 9 1 ' : e 1 o f h t ' r r i l l e c h i l t l r e n .

' l i t r : ^ r m . . . : , ' l h i : a n r e a r e d i nd r e n

e r y r S c r r : : : t ' r : e ; I u c r l C r i f | , t i C r , ' r X e l t r i i

WEdow of I s@eEEs sufppqln.tc o u p l e o f y e a r s a g o , a n d s i n c e t h e n l i f e h a s

b e e n e x t r e m e l y u n b e a r a b l e f o r h e r a n d t h en i n e c h i l d r e n , s o m e o f w h o m a r e i n s c h o o l .

T o t h i s p o o r w i d o w , h e r l i f e h a s b e e n

n o t h i n g l e s s t h a o a d e v a s t o i i n g o n e a s s h e

s i r u t g l € s h a r d t o ; i r i t f o a ( l o n t h e t l l l l c a n d

l a t e r f c j r + h e o t h e r , : c i i i . r : i r r r e n t s ( f i l r e c h i l -

was car ing and lov ing ; he had i t a l l bu t myl i fe and tha t o f my ch i ld ren 's tu rncd sourw h e n h e d i e d , " C a m a r a n a r r a t e s i n 1 e a r s .

Accord ing to her , she f inds i t very d i f f i -cu l t to make a l i v ing as she depends en t i re -ly o r , begg ing to make cnds mect ,

"Somet imes we r tay the whr l t day ;v i th -ou t food I have the ambi t ion o f send ing mych i lCren to schoc l . l :u t I ^ r , rna [ r l : ' o fu l f i i l

n o w h e r e t o s t a y w i t h m y n i n e c h i l d r c n . I

can' t even provide food for them, let alone

e d u c a t e t h e m . w h e n m y h u s b a n d w a s a l i v e ,

w e w e r e r e n t i n g a f u l l a p a r t m e n t , b u t n o w I

c a n ' t a f f o r d t o p a y f o r h o u s e r e n t , " s h e

s 1 ' d .

A n y o n e h ' i l l i n g t o h e l p c a n c o n t a c t B i n t a

o q t l . e f o l l o w i n g n u m b e r s : 3 6 6 o r 4 9 /

OBSERVER

Road safetyActivities marking global road safety week

are in progress with the theme'focusing on how

to make pedestrians safe on our roads.'

We wish to add our voice to this issue

because automobile accideots have become

rampant in the country ofrecent.

We know government has constructcd

good roads all over the country to ensure the

smooth flow oftraffic, The govemment has dlso

done a good job in this regard by introducing

traf l ic regulat ions that disal low dr iv ing whi le

talking on a cell phone, making the use of seat

belts compulsory, avoiding over speeding and

overtaking etc. It is therefore the duty of all

drivers to complywith these provisions to ensure

safety on our roads.

A critical look at most of the accidents that

occurred in the past will reveal that they were

caused by the carelcssness and recklessness of

our dr ivers. Many of them over speed when

driving, as they are so much in a hurry that they

don't mind overtaking other vehicles even at

road junctions, regardless of the consequences.

Another cause ofaccidents is the fact that many

ofthe cars and lorries that ply our roads are not

roadworthy. Sometimes many of these vehicles

have faulty brakes or worn-out tyres and lack

side mirrors.

Of course, we are aware that the police, as

the law enforcement agency, are exercising their

mandate to the mdimum. They can be spotted

at many points along the highways, executing

their duties in ensuring that people complywith

traffic rules. We urge them to redouble their

efforts and continue to be more vigilant so as to

prevent unnecessary road accidents. They must

ensure that anyefiant driveris banned from the

road, and any vehicle that is not road worthy

impounded.

Equally, we wish to mll on all and sundry to

exelcise care and caution when on trafific. This

is neccssary because the road is meant for both

vehicles and pedest l ians to carry out thejr

everyday transactioils.

We hope thal c lr ivcrs heed our ar lv ice so t l r r t

collectively we prevent unnecessary accidents on

our roads.

LooK.. .Ls'illtu 8aTre Lniiif'lepiitra, \

)oull tse fiaeg-fi( s(d(rnqNiiu o[6iqolr?

GAMBIA PRESS UNIONANNOUNCEMENT

The Gambia Press Union will on Saturdayhold a general meeting at its headquarters inFalara at 12noon.