PROMOTE ROAD SAFETY IN COUNTRY (PAGE 71)

THE Minister of Transportation, Dr Richard W. Anane, has called on the vehicle inspection authorities to put in maximum effort to promote road safety in the country.
This, he noted, could reduce the present fatality rate of 21.3 persons per 10,000 vehicles to a single digit by 2015.
Dr Anane said this in a speech read on his behalf at the inauguration of a new GH¢260,615 office for the Driver, Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA), in Tema. The new facility has administration block, testing and examination offices, on-site banking hall and service unit to enable it to improve on revenue collection and speed up financial transaction of customers to eliminate undue delays and financial impropriety.
He said the DVLA Act 569 (1999) was enacted to promote good driving standards in the country and ensure the use of roadworthy vehicles.
Dr Anane noted that the provision of good office environment would also reduce the problem of “goro boys” whose activities undermined the efforts by the DVLA to serve its clients as best as possible.
He called on the DVLA officials to adhere to laid down procedures of the service, which would ultimately translate into good driving practices.
He said the effectiveness of the DVLA’s operations would have a direct impact on the efficiency of the road transport sector and reduce the incidence of traffic accidents.
He said a number of road accident fatalities and injuries occurred in the last three quarters of 2008 and took the opportunity to appeal to both drivers and pedestrians to strictly adhere to the road traffic regulations to avoid accidents especially in the wake of the forthcoming national elections.
Dr Anane said the Tema office ranked second in the registration of new vehicles and must serve as an incentive to the staff to provide quality service to clients.
The acting Chief Executive of the DVLA, Mrs Mabel Sagoe, said the total cost of the structure was funded by the authority from its own internally generated funds.
She said the Tema office restored 14,896 vehicles between January and October 2008 and by the end of October it was able to generate a total revenue of GH¢981,792.
Mrs Sagoe said the authority had made it a policy to improve its facilities to international standards and as a result it had completed and inaugurated two new offices at Wa in the Upper West Region and Bekwai in the Ashanti Region, and provided additional office facilities at the Kumasi office.
She said the decision to license and regulate private garages to test vehicles was to make the testing centre accessible to the motoring public and also improve the quality of vehicle testing.
Mrs Sagoe said the major challenges the authority faced was that of the ‘goro boys’ who operate on the premises of the authority.
She said although the authority had reviewed its procedures to reduce waiting time, clients still sought the assistance of the ‘goro boys’.
She appealed to all patrons of the DVLA to stop using these intermediaries and deal directly with the DVLA staff.