THE nation is under siege. It is like we are being hemmed in on all sides. We have a new government that is still struggling to plant its feet firmly in the ground while the New Patriotic Party (NPP), that has suddenly, against all expectations, found itself in opposition, will not relent in its sustained pressure on the new administration.
On the international level, a new term has gained notoriety – the credit crunch. It has given a platform for bad and corrupt governments who can now find easy excuse for their failures.
On the home front, there is something gnawing at us which will not stop. The pain has sent us into frenzy, forcing desperate and sometimes elusive solutions out of us. I am referring to the road accidents that have become daily occurrences these days and the questions are; where next and how many casualties?
The Motor Traffic and Transport Unit of the Ghana Police Service, in response to the menace swore to enforce speed limits on the highways. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Daniel Avorga, the man in charge of outfit was confident that he and his lieutenants are up to the task. According to him, motorised personnel in groups of between four and six will be deployed on the highways to check speed limits while educating drivers on the need to exercise caution on the roads.
The National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), on their part came up with a bold decision — to install speed limiters on all passenger vehicles in the country to check speeding, which has been identified as a major cause of accidents.
The Director of Research, Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr David Adonteng, was on record telling the Daily Graphic that five companies have been identified for the installation of the device which will ensure that vehicles do not go beyond 100 kilometres per hour (km/h) on the highways.
At what could be described as a crisis meeting held last Tuesday, the Ministry of Roads and Highways and other interest groups in the transport industry came to certain decisions all aimed at curing the same ailment of road accidents. These include prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages at lorry stations, checking overloading of vehicles, speed checks and taking steps to clear broken down vehicles from the roads.
The problem has become so huge that every state institution seems to be joining the solution bandwagon. So the Ministry of Health also announced that it is going to collaborate with the Ghana Armed Forces to ferry accident victims with helicopters to medical facilities. At least if we cannot stop the accidents, we should be able to transport victims quickly for medical attention, so it means.
The Women’s Aglow International, went beyond the human dimension and moved into the spiritual realm by organising a special session on Sunday, March 22, 2009 to seek divine intervention to end the carnage.
Looking through all the remedies prescribed for this national calamity, one could hardly find anything new. The Police have always assured the motoring public of their determination to clampdown on careless driving maintain sanity on the roads. They have always threatened to deal ruthlessly with reckless driving and impose severe sanctions on recalcitrant drivers.
There have been a few heavily-publicised operations in the past to check speeding and other traffic offences but which faded into nothingness in no time. A few drivers may suffer and heaps of praises conferred on the police for a good job done and that ends the matter.
Where is the hope that this time, things will be better? The problems that existed yesterday which made highway patrols difficult and almost impossible still exist. The police simply lack the manpower and the requisite logistics to perform. That is why they concentrate their operations in Accra and the other big towns checking ‘papers’ on routine basis.
Highway patrol means being mobile and fast. It also means being in a position to communicate with others in the patrol team in case of reckless driving or suspected highway robbery. Are we up to the task?
Ideally, the police should have their own helicopters to patrol the highways and for rescue operations in emergencies. I know somebody will begin to say that we do not have funds for those things. Yes, when it comes to good things or the national interest, we never get the funds. However, we can dip into the same coffers to fund frivolities for the aggrandisement of a few.
The air ambulances that are to be provided by the Ghana Armed Forces sound quite interesting. We have failed miserably on the ground, so are we going to do better in the air?
How many helicopters equipped with life-saving devices are in the fleet of the Ghana Armed Forces? Remember one of such aircrafts crashed into the Atiwa Forest a few years ago killing all on board including the accident victims that were being brought to Accra. Has there been any replacement?
The next question: If the GAF is able to provide the choppers wherewill the victims be sent to? You know why? Even the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, the nation’s largest hospital lacks the facilities to cope with major emergency situations. Visit the Accident Centre at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and see how people with broken limbs and torn flesh are left on the ground groaning in pain, then you can picture where we are as a nation.
Our city roads have not been designed to handle emergencies. Can you imagine an ambulance trapped in heavy traffic with its sirens wailing miserably without any response from drivers who themselves are minding their own problems?
These days too, one cannot tell whether an ambulance is carrying someone who needs urgent attention or someone who has already passed on to the other world. The police have not been able to enforce the law on the use of sirens, though they keep on reminding the public about the existence of a law to that effect.
There is no doubt that we are confronted with a serious national problem. But that is not solved by any don quixotic approach.
The NRSC has never wavered in its public education campaigns. This idea of speed limiters is not new. Where are they going to start from and where will it end? Road safety work is not for one institution and a breakdown in any part of the chain will affect the whole process.
There are many who have acquired driving licenses through dubious means, most often with the connivance of officials of the Driver Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA). The crusade against road accidents must start from the corridors of the DVLA.
The MTTU, as it is now, cannot cope with the assignment of maintaining law and order on the roads both in terms of personnel and logistics. Having identified road accidents and reckless driving as a major national problem, we need to invest more in enforcing motor traffic regulations.
It should be possible for the police to be well equipped to patrol the highways not only for offensive drivers and highway crimes but to effect rescue missions in the event of accidents. That is why a few helicopters for this purpose will not be described as a misplaced priority.
All the offences being mentioned in recent times including alcoholism, over speeding, wrong overtaking, driving without valid driver’s licence or without roadworthy certificate are not new. What we have lacked over the years are the will and the honesty to enforce these laws and others.
Highway patrols should not be done sporadically as panic measures. They should be a regular feature on the schedule of the MTTU, or whichever institution that will be tasked to perform that duty.
Our national response to emergency situations cannot be described as the best. In a bad situation such as we have found ourselves in now, we are tempted to react in a manner that in the long run will not serve any purpose. We need to confront some painful realities. That is, we lack the capacity to do most of the things we are dreaming of. But once the will is there, there will be a way.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
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