Guyana rolls out new road safety action plan
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) — Guyana is to launch a three-year National Road Safety Action Plan on Wednesday that the authorities say will outline the roles and responsibilities of every stakeholder and help the country to meet the Decade of Action for Road Safety, 2011-2020 to reduce death on the roads by 50 per cent.
Co-ordinator of the Guyana National Road Safety Council (GNRSC), Ramona Doorgen, said the plan will also complement the National Road Safety Strategy, 2013-2020.
But she noted that before it could have been launched the stakeholders had to give their commitment.
“They now have signed the commitment form saying that they are going to take up their commitment, and their role and responsibility for road safety in our country, and that is the main purpose of this plan, having all the key players recognising what is their role, what is their responsibility and working together to implement it,” she said.
Some of the stakeholders include the Ministries of Public Security, Education, Public Health, Public Infrastructure and Communities, and the National Bureau of Standards and the Guyana Revenue Authority.
Doorgen said that the Action Plan will also provide training for stakeholders which include the media, adding “ the road safety council is insisting in having the media trained properly; delivery when it comes to road safety in any way, in any area, knowing how to handle (it), because you sometimes are the first at the scene of an accident and it might be gruesome, you need training in all those areas.
“We are going to continue to train our police officers in every area.”
She said following the launch the public can look forward to more awareness operations along with increased ‘White Knight campaigns’.
Vice President and Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan and Traffic Chief Dion Moore are among those expected to address Wednesday’s launch.