By Adama Makasuba
Gambia Police have started a countrywide road safety awareness programme that aimed to help reduce road accidents in the country.
The programme comes amid rise in road accidents and a day after two famous journalists and a health worker died in a tragic road accident occurred in Jarra Jiffin.
However, the police believed the awareness programme which target school students, their teachers and community people will help to drastically reduce road accidents in the country, as they launched it in Lower River Region.
“In a bid to inculcate road safety issues and spread awareness about traffic safety among students, police in the Lower River Region organised a road safety and traffic awareness programme at the Northerdamus Basic Cycle School in Jarra. The event was presided over by Lamin Banda Commissioner of Police in LRR and was joined by the Chief of Operations CSP Abou Ceessay and Jarra Soma Station Officer ASP Kemo Sanneh,” Police indicated.
As explained by the police, “The initiative comes amid concerns of road traffic injuries within the region. Sessions which targeted over 300 students and a dozen of teachers from the Northerdamus Basic Cycle School focus on road safety awareness and techniques, practical skills in safe crossing, as well as safe manoeuvring of busy traffic. Participants were also exposed to audio-visual lessons as well as practical demonstrations of road safety skills. The initiative which commences today, Tuesday, January 18 2022, is aimed at reducing the rate of accidents and also to facilitate sustainable safe environment for school going children.”
It was noted that “The participation of school teachers is critical as they will help educate children and wider society about road safety and the value of life as children are the future of the country. The training also took a form of demonstrative approaches as students went out for demonstrations and simulation activities along the highway for a mastery of skills and knowledge acquired during sessions.”