A massive road rehabilitative initiative designed to incorporate safety mechanisms geared towards improving the safety of all road users is on the cards. This move which will be implemented by Government is one that will be designed to help curb road accidents.
Specifically at the Infrastructure Ministry, efforts have been made to address risk factors such as speeding, and the Ministry has taken actions such as the placement of more road signage; increased road markings; construction of sidewalks; installation of raised pavement markers; the installation of streetlights and traffic lights; and placement of speed humps.
This is according to Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson.
A section of the participants at the workshop today.
Ferguson was at the time speaking at a Road Safety Workshop which commenced today at the Marriott Hotel.
The workshop represents a collaboration of the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, in collaboration with the International Road Federation (IRF), the first of its kind to be held in Guyana.
Present at Marriott venued workshop were stakeholders from different bodies, including the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana National Road Safety Council. The two-day workshop aims to bring together relevant stakeholders to address the road safety issues in Guyana, particularly in the area of infrastructure.
The workshop was officially launched by Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson, who emphasized the importance of dialogue and expressed her pleasure at having the Ministry collaborate with the IRF.
“Today’s road safety workshop is primarily geared towards the transferring of knowledge and skills that would enable the participants to accurately diagnose safety issues associated with vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists,” Minister Ferguson said.
She said too that the Ministry is in the process of developing an overpass bridge to improve the safety of pedestrians on highways.
However, she said, the Government can only do so much and there is also a need for a change in the culture of road users. “Drivers need to take more responsibility for the safety of their passengers and themselves…Road users need to think of safety first,” she said, before adding that the goal is to have Guyana’s road safety move to an international standard.