By: LaminNjie,
Assistant Information Officer,
MoTWI
Currently, in The Gambia, there are many different sources of getting information on road crash incidences. Such sources are The Police, Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital, World Health Organization (WHO), Banjul office among other sources.
In other to have one central source of getting information on road crash incidences, the planning unit of The Ministry of Transport, Works and Infrastructure (MoTWI), recently conducted a two-day workshop on how to review and harmonize the different road crash reporting templates available in the country.
In a brief opening statement at the event, Ousman Ceesay, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transport, Works and Infrastructure, said the two day workshop could not have come at a better time than now, as the Ministry is pushing up ways and means of seeing how best to tackle the frequent road crash incidences happening countrywide.
“It could be recalled that the issue of road traffic crashes have been identify as one of the critical issues for the Gambia in its road strategy 2021-2030. This document is in line with regional, continental and global strategies on road safety issues”, he told the participants.
He further added that efforts are in the pipeline to develop an electronic data reporting system which will monitor road crashes, all geared towards bettering the roads of the country.
As the world been a global village, The Gambia is aware of the numerous efforts taking place regional, continental and global to mitigate road crash incidences, he said.
Lamin King Colley, Commissioner Mobile Traffic, revealed that from January to August, this year, The Gambia has registered a total of 637 road crash incidences. Out of which, 75 people have died from those road crash incidences.
Meanwhile, a WHO report published in 2018, has ranked The Gambia fourth in terms of road crash incidences.
The workshop, which was held at Metzy Hotel, Kotu, brought together key stakeholders from different institutions such as The National Roads Authority, Non-Communicable Diseases of The Ministry of Health, Statistics unit of The Gambia Police Force, Gambia Red Cross Society, Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital, Mobile Traffic and University of The Gambia.