Latest update April 23rd, 2024 12:59 AM
Apr 20, 2017 News
The US$13.2M being spent annually on counter measures and to repair infrastructure -amongst other costs – after and prior to fatal accidents, is a burden on the state’s economy.
This is according to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MPI)’s Senior Projects Engineer, Kester Hinds, who presented an overview of Guyana’s road safety situation at a Road Safety Forum held at the Marriott Hotel, Kingston Georgetown yesterday.
The conference, which will conclude today, is being facilitated by the International Road Federation (IRF).
Hinds told the gathering that in 2004, through financing from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), an assessment on Guyana’s traffic safety situation was carried out.
It was during this assessment, Hinds explained, it was detected that for every fatal accident on the country’s roadways, it was costing the national coffers US$60,000.
“Guyana is losing US$13.2M (Approximately GYD$2.8B) every year,” Hinds told the gathering.
Hinds’ presentation coincided with what was previously uttered by the Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan earlier this year.
Ramjattan had told media representatives that during a specific period, the country had to expend in excess of $4.3B to facilitate medical responses and execute repairs to the damage caused by road accidents.
Hinds added that the US$60,000 being spent per fatality is still small compared to nations such as the United States and Switzerland where the cost goes beyond US$1M.
The veteran Engineer noted that the money being “lost” is troubling and explained that it would be logical to spend less to initiate safety measures than to spend millions after fatal accidents.
Hinds who has responsibility for Traffic, Maintenance and Safety at the MPI, presented statistics to the gathering where it was noted that the number of deaths over the past decade, reflects almost 130 deaths annually from an average of 114 fatal accidents each year.
He added also, that for a decade, pedestrians represented a large percentage of deaths, with pedal cyclists coming in second. The combined number of deaths of both categories makes up 60 percent of the lives lost on the roadways since 2007.
Guyana is currently experiencing a 10 percent decline in road fatalities. The number of deaths stand at 30 as compared to 39 during this same period last year.
Hinds said that over the years, the Ministry has gained a lot of support from the IDB and looks forward for additional support as the Government moves to curb road fatalities.
Also, the Ministry will be looking at capacity building, initiating additional road safety programmes and deepening collaboration with stakeholders including the private sector.
Further, the Guyana National Road Safety Council (GNRSC) will be moving to introduce its action plan sometime next month. It is expected that the plan will have the necessary measures to deal with some of the issues on the roadways.
LISTEN HOW JAGDEO WILL MAKE ALL GUYANESE RICH!!!
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