Mbabane: The Ministry of Public Works and Transport has noted with concern that road traffic accidents are slowly becoming a crisis. Minister of Public Works and Transport Chief Ndlaluhlaza Ndwandwe noted that accidents leave devastating effects on families, relatives and friends and that they are now the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5 – 29 years.
Chief Ndlaluhlaza noted that considering that this is the future generation, interventions were not an option but a necessity.
Despite the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown of places in the country, there has been accidents, the most chilling involving a police minibus and a truck which resulted in the death of 12 people. Another accident occurred at Mountain Inn where a kombi overturned killing 1 passenger and injuring others.
The minister noted that it is important that all road users obey all road and traffic signs and rules. As government loosens the grip on the COVID-19 regulations travel shall increase and it shall depend on the road infrastructure which is built to facilitate the movement of people and goods. He pointed out the importance for roads to be built for safety over and above mobility of people and goods.
The Minister provided that it is no longer just an option to incorporate safety features on road infrastructure – it is an obligation. He noted with pleasure that the construction of MR3 Lot 1 (Manzini – Mpandze) has a Road Safety Audit component which made it mandatory to carry out road safety audits in various stages from pre-construction, during construction and post construction, adding that all new road projects must from now onwards include Road Safety Audits. This shall allow for catering for the needs of most Non-Motorized Transport (mostly pedestrians, cyclists, disabled and visually impaired; who are vulnerable in nature) to safety interact with the road.
The Minister also decried the un-roadworthy vehicles littered in the country’s roads. He noted that public service and commercial vehicles are subjected to frequent roadworthy tests to improve road safety. Privately owned vehicles are, however, not subjected to these tests save for when change of ownership is made. He noted that it is time that the privately owned vehicles are also tested as frequent as possible. An interval has to be determined on the frequency of tests for these vehicles. This, he noted, shall greatly improve road safety.
Prevention of road traffic crashes is vital. However, in the unfortunate event such occur, there is greater need to salvage life. The work of post-crash care agencies needs to be supported as they have to work under extreme pressure to save lives of injured road traffic crash victims.
The future of road safety in Eswatini is encouraging, the Minister noted. This is due to the permission granted by Cabinet to proceed with processes to ratify the African Road Safety Charter. The Charter was adopted by the session of Heads of States of African countries (including the Kingdom of Eswatini); the 26th Ordinary Session of the African Union Commission Assembly, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in January 2016. It seeks to set up a policy framework for road safety improvement in each country and Africa as a whole. The major goal is to drastically reduce road traffic crashes.
The Charter also calls upon the participation of Private Sector, Civil Society Organizations, and Non-Governmental organizations on road safety. The Minister noted that the support provided by different entities already show the spirit canvassed by the Charter.
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