BIGRS supports AMA with road traffic management equipment to reduce crashes

The Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS) has donated traffic management equipment to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) as part of a concerted effort to promote road safety in the city.

The donation, aimed at equipping the city's enforcement drive to mitigate road hazards, includes items such as LED-light batons, reflective vests, traffic cones, directional signposts, and raincoats.

Rebecca Bavinger, a public health professional at Bloomberg Philanthropies (BP), handed over the equipment to the AMA on Monday when she called on the Mayor of Accra as part of a 6-day working visit to Ghana.

She disclosed that the initiative would officially end in 2025 and expressed appreciation to the AMA for the collaboration, describing the partnership as wonderful.

She expressed their eagerness to accomplish as much as possible within the next twenty-one months of the partnership, emphasising the importance of leadership.

"As you know, we are engaged in the initiative with Accra through the end of 2025; we have less than 2 years left with the whole program, so we want to accomplish as much as we can in the next 21 months we have left and are looking forward to your leadership. It has been a wonderful collaboration until now," she said.

She mentioned some key achievements of the initiative, citing the construction of road safety enhancement works at the Holy Trinity Cathedral and London Market Street, the training of police officers and communication agencies and the AMA enforcement team, the donation of 12 speed guns to the AMA for the Police, and collaboration with journalists to report on issues related to road safety.

"The BIGRS has worked with the AMA to train over six hundred police and enforcement teams; we have so far donated 12-speed guns to MPDD, trained different communication agencies, and worked with journalists to keep road safety in the public conversation," she said.

The Mayor of Accra, Elizabeth Kwatsoe Sackey, who received the equipment, expressed profound gratitude to Bloomberg Philanthropies for their unwavering support and commitment to road safety initiatives, stressing that the donation would augment the city's capabilities to address road safety challenges effectively.

"As Accra continues to grapple with the complexities of urban mobility and traffic management, partnerships like these serve as a beacon of hope, instilling confidence in the collective effort to create safer and more sustainable transportation systems...With this traffic management equipment, Accra is poised to embark on a transformative journey towards safer roads and enhanced public security," she said.

She identified motorbikes as the foremost challenge to road safety in the city and emphasised the urgent need for comprehensive measures to address the escalating risks posed by motorbikes on the streets of Accra.

"Motorbikes have become a major challenge to road safety in Accra. Their indiscriminate use, disregard for traffic laws, and speeding contribute significantly to the high rate of road crashes being witnessed in the city daily," she said.

She assured that the Assembly would intensify education and enforcement activities to deter deviant behaviours on the road.

The Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS) aims to reduce road crash fatalities and injuries in low- and middle-income countries and cities by implementing a comprehensive set of actions that are proven to save lives.

In 2020, the BIGRS commenced its third phase, which will run until 2025.

Priority cities of the new BIGRS phase include Accra, Addis Ababa, Bengaluru, Bogota, Buenos Aires, Guadalajara, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Kampala, Kumasi, Mumbai, New Delhi, Sao Paulo, Salvador, and Recife.