Public Agenda (Accra)
Misbahu Bawa Bulmuo
5 June 2009
The Ghana Shippers' Council (GSC) has joined in the campaign to educate owners of heavy duty trucks and their drivers on the need to adopt safe driving habits to put an end to the numerous road crashes.
The Council organized an open forum in Kumasi where stakeholders met to educate the truck owners and drivers to ensure safety as their importance in the distributive trade of the economy cannot be overemphasized.
The forum held at the Teachers' Hall was attended by officials of the National Road Safety Commission, the Ghana Highways Authority (GHA), the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA) and the Motor Transport and Traffic Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police and owners of haulage trucks and their drivers.
A deputy Chief Executive of the GSC Mr. Emmanuel Martey told participants at the forum that educating the industry players is seen as one of the necessary measures needed to infuse a culture of safety in haulage truck drivers.
"This forum therefore is meant to inculcate in handlers of trucks as well as their owners the need to place premium on life and property" he said.
The forum also addressed the issues of capacity building, the requisite infrastructure, legal and administrative framework for ensuing the success of the entire system.
Mr. Martey disclosed that the GSC is in the process of strengthening its mandate with respect to the protection of the interest of shippers, i.e. owners of cargo being transported in the country or on a cross-border transit.
"To this end, the Council envisages a legal regime that would ensure that within specified time frame the haulage of cargo would be undertaken only with appropriately designed trucks such as containized trucks or in container".
He said the present system would have to give way to a better organized system that would require haulage truck owners to retool, modernize their fleet, and re-engineer their operations to meet international best practices.
It is estimated that about 1800 Ghanaians die through road accidents annually and the country looses over $165 million in cargo losses which is about 1.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
"This is a huge loss to cargo owners resulting in huge debt or loss of working capital. This state of affairs is unacceptable and needs to be curbed" the deputy Chief Executive said.
The Director of Planning and Monitoring at the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) Mrs. May Obiri-Yeboah disclosed that government would from next year start a driving school for drivers to be fashioned out in the manner of a law or medical school albeit the duration one would spend at the drivers' academy would be very short.
She said the short duration would-be drivers would spend at the academy would be very beneficial as the curriculum to be used would be aimed at instilling in students a high sense of professionalism for them to behave like members of other recognized profession.
According to her, the DVLA would demand for certificate of the academy from applicants for driving permit before the drivers' licenses are issued out.
She said importers and haulage owners play a vital role in road transport across the sub-region and it is necessary for them to adopt proper techniques in the loading of goods to avoid road crashes.
She cautioned against the tendency by truck owners and drivers to load beyond the approved tonnage limit which is major cause of road accidents in the country.
The axle load manager of the Ashanti region Ghana Highways Authority Mr. Ofori Frimpong asked drivers to be mindful of the capacity of their trucks before they load and embark on their long distance journey.
He said a new regulation is at cabinet for consideration to replace the 1974 regulation which prohibits loading beyond the approved limit. He admitted that the old regulation has not been rigorously applied but from June this year drivers would not be spared if they violate the law.
Mr. Frimpong advised them to endeavour to stay within the approved limits of loads since this can ensure longevity for the country's roads.
The authorities in Niger have recently chastised some Ghanaian truck drivers for this attitude.
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