Tema, Oct. 15, GNA – Mr Gayheart Mensah, a Presidential Aspirant of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), has called for a floatation of a group of journalists whose interest would be on drawing attention to what ought to be done in order to mitigate the frequency of deaths that happen on the roads.
“If we think road safety is critical to our survival as a nation and it contributes to the economy and can have an impact on journalists, then why don’t you come together and educate Ghanaians on what they need to do in order to improve our roads,” he said.
Mr Mensah was speaking at the GNA Tema Regional Office and the Motor Transport and Traffic Department (MTTD) Road Safety Campaign platform, which seeks to use prominent persons to provide continuous education on the need to be safe on the roads and reduce road carnage.
The GNA-Tema road safety campaign is a continuous educational platform given to stakeholders to speak to their constituents on how best to contribute to making the country’s road safer and crash free.
He said there was the possibility of having a group of journalists whose interest was in road safety because there were journalists who wrote on the economy likewise sports, telecommunication and health reporters.
Commending the GNA in Tema for their initiative, he urged journalists to focus on advocacy for people who have voices that could be heard to contribute on the debate on the need to draw attention on the issues of road safety and its management.
The GJA Presidential Aspirant noted that the media had the capacity and platforms to create top of mind awareness on the impact of road safety on individuals, communities and the economy of the country.
He said alliance must be built with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), and the MTTD and partner with institutions that were responsible for ensuring that the roads were safe.
He noted that this would make journalists understand what role the media could play to enhance the various institutions’ mandates, which the GNA-Tema had already started.
Mr Mensah said “we need to have an alliance with these institutions to find out what we can do to help in order to embed those attitudes and practices that help to mitigate the extent to which road safety can have an impact on citizens”.
Mr. Francis Ameyibor, the Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Manager, said whatever happens on the road affected a lot of people in one way or the other, because road user were many, either as a driver, pedestrian or passenger.
He said there had been instances where people had been in their homes and a vehicle runs into their home and killed them. There had been an instance where someone was sleeping in his room on the Accra to Ho road and a vehicle run into the house, killing the occupant instantly.
Mr Ameyibor said in view of the devastation of road crashes, every institution must play its role effectively to ensure that we protect lives on the roads.
The GNA Tema Regional Manager also called for patience on the road, “we cannot commit mistakes on the roads, any blunder could lead to the death of someone or destruction of properties or injuries”.
GNA