Government of Southern Sudan Road Safety Week Awareness culminates with parade

By Richard Ruati

November 6, 2010 (Juba) – The Government of Southern Sudan, development partners and local sponsors wrapped up their week-long road safety campaign on Saturday with a march in Juba.

The parade, under the theme “Safer Roads for All”, began at All Saints Cathedral attracted some 800 people and was led by the southern Minister for Transport and Roads Anthony Lino Makana.

In an address at the Dr. John Garang Mausoleum, where the five kilometer march ended, Makana said the purpose of the Road Safety Week was to highlight the “importance of good road use and the dangers associated with it, hence road safety is human right – people have to move freely and safely from place to place.”

Makana acknowledged that “the use of roads can be a source of danger through road crashes and injuries.”

According to the regions authorities 8-10 accidents are recorded daily in the southern capital Juba. Pedestrians are injured regularly by accidents on southern Sudan’s roads.

The minister said that “effective traffic laws, enforcement and regulations can actually create public safety on roads.”

“Easy to read traffic laws and regulations can also improve enhancement of laws, and citizens can then voluntarily comply [with] the laws.”

“Excellent engineering standards and design of roads can eliminate many of the otherwise avoidable accidents.”

US Acting Consul General in Juba, Roger Moran, participated in the Southern Sudan Road Safety March to highlight the importance of reducing dangerous driving speeds on the roads of southern Sudan.

In the five years since the peace deal that ended over two decades of civil war between north and south Sudan Moran said “the US Government has invested heavily in roads in Southern Sudan but these efforts have not been matched by the creation of awareness of road safety.”

Moran said “vehicle speeds are expected to increase when the USAID-funded 192 km long Juba-Nimule road is completed at the end of 2011.

“Without effective traffic safety awareness and regulations, and more specifically enforcement of traffic rules, the road might become a death trap. Already accidents on this road are rising and the time for interventions is now.”

Road accidents are common in most parts of the region and on major roads linking southern Sudan with Kenya and Uganda. Analysts in the region foresee increase in road accidents in southern Sudan as more roads are built paved and traffic travels faster.

The senior US official added that, “to deal effectively with traffic offenders and discourage dangerous driving, the right legal framework has to be put in place.”

Moran encouraged the Ministry of Transport and Roads and their counterparts from the Ministry for Internal Affairs “to work together to enact the Road Safety bill into law in the shortest time possible based on the joint draft bill that was recently prepared.”

The Directorate of Road Transport and Safety of ministry of transport and roads started the 2010 Safety Week on Monday November 1 in an effort to reduce fatal road accidents.

During the campaign traffic police, education and health professionals and others visited local schools and road accident victims at Juba Hospita. A Zebra-crossing was paited to demonstrate the need for public awareness of road safety.

Nadia Bilako a Juba town resident said she was excited about the parade and believes more regional legislation is needed to support quality physical education programs.

“We’re just as important as anyone else, if not even more important, because without our safety we’re not going to development, anyway,” Nadia said.

In a series of TV, radio, and print media announcements in Juba, Minister Makana has expressed support for the road safety march and the need to reduce road injuries and fatalities. The event, he said, aims to raise public awareness regarding the unnecessarily high number of people killed and injured by traffic accidents, and to share the pain of bereaved families.

“Children are so precious and yet so many children are horrendously injured in southern Sudan by dangerous driving,” said Poni Jada, 23, whose 7-year-old son Kenyi was injured when walking home from school in May.

“I support this event to raise awareness of the importance of driving slowly in communities and to help raise the attention of donors for such an important event that provides such vital awareness to road crash victims,” she said.

South Sudan’s ministries of Internal Affairs (Traffic Police), Health, and Education Science and Technology also participated in the event.

The parade was held with help from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), UN agencies, Southern Sudan Red Crescent and Southern Sudan Transport Union.

Businesses also contributed to the event including Equity Bank, New Sudan Insurance Co, National Insurance Company (NIC) JIT Company, Aquana, Southern Sudan Breweries Limited, Rhino Star Suppliers Company and, Home and Away Properties Ltd and UAP Insurance Company.

(ST)