Various stakeholders led by the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), have embarked on a road march along the principal streets of Wa, to create road safety awareness among the general public.
The road march is part of activities planned by the NRSC to mark the road safety week celebration in the Upper West Region, which is held in every third week of November.
Participants of the march were drawn from the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC), the Municipal Assembly, the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), the Ghana Prisons Service, the Road Safety Management Services, and various transport unions.
They carried placards with inscriptions such as “pedestrians and passengers, be alert and speak up,” “wear your crash helmets always,” “wear reflective clothing at night,” “avoid drunk-driving,” “make crossing safe,” “drivers, reduce speed and save lives,” “help children to cross the road,” and ‘road safety is a collective responsibility,” amid drumming and dancing.
Dr Musheibu Mohammed Alfa, Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, in an address at the end of the exercise, thanked the participants for marching to create awareness in order to prevent unnecessary deaths.
He said statistics indicated that in Ghana six lives were lost daily in road crashes, and 2, 000 a year, adding that all should, therefore, be proud that they were part of the awareness creation to reduce crashes.
The Deputy Regional Minister advised the participants to make it a duty to wear crash helmets when riding, saying by so doing the awareness creation would not just be a nine-day wonder, but a continuing process.
Mr Mohammed Abdul-Samad, Upper West Regional Manager of the NRSC, expressed gratitude to the stakeholders for coming out in their numbers to make the road march a big success.
He said the NRSC has only four staff in the region, but that through the effective co-operation and collaboration from all stakeholders, road safety was making significant strides in the region, and becoming a household name.
Mr Abdul-Samad advised drivers, motorists and pedestrians to endeavour to be patient when using the road, in order to avoid needless crashes.
Source: GhanaWeb
