PROTOA suggests perennial road safety campaigns

Mr Ben Amoabeng-Peprah, National Chairman of the Progressive Transport Owners' Association (PROTOA), has suggested that road-safety campaigns should be continual, all-year round.

He said the current seasonal nature of the campaigns, during Christmas and Easter was not effective.

Mr Amoabeng-Peprah made the suggestion when he addressed the Volta Regional Delegates Conference of the Association at Sogakope at the weekend, at which all five executives were retained by popular acclamation.

They were, Ben Katsekpor, Chairman, Isaac Amenyo, Vice-Chairman, Joe Komada, Treasurer, Cephas Exe, Secretary and Felix Clintson,Executive Member.

Mr Amoabeng-Peprah, who is also chairman of the Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council, stressed that lack of maintenance, drunk-driving, fatigue, over speeding, and hasty or wrong overtaking, were the main causes of accidents in the country.

He said the state must find ways of keeping these issues before drivers, road users and the general public perpetually, and not only when festivities are approaching.

Mr Amoabeng-Peprah said though PROTOA’s entry into Volta Region in 2003 was resisted, it had since been flourishing.

He said the introduction of new and smaller buses on the roads by state transport organizations had injected some more competition into the transport business, which PROTOA was ready for.

Mr Amoabeng-Peprah, however, appealed to the authorities for a free playing field for all transport operating unions.

Mr Katsekpor commended the delegates for their confidence in his team, and announced plans to put up a permanent regional office for the Association.

Mr Emmanuel Gator, an Assembly Member, who presided, urged PROTOA to raise standards of cleanliness at the transport terminals, and also begin new services such as courier services.