A meeting was convened yesterday with President Bharrat Jagdeo and representatives of the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana National Road Safety Council to assess a list of proposals aimed at making Guyana’s roads safer. The meeting follows previous discussions with the same group when a number of resources were pledged by the government to aid in the execution of plans to mark National Road Safety Month activities.
On October 28, President Jagdeo met with representatives of the GNRSC when he pledged greater support by Government for the work of the council and told them that all their advertisements in keeping with their campaign would be publicized in the state media free of cost.
Home Affairs Clement Rohee, who was part of yesterday’s meeting, told the Government Information Agency (GINA) that the president shared some new road safety ideas during his discussions with the National Road Safety Council and the GPF.
Out of the shared ideas, Minister Rohee said, came a roster of proposals which is being assessed for implementation.
“We are now tasked with the responsibility to put those recommendations together, to cost them wherever costing is needed, and to re-submit them for consideration… some of these will be done in the short term, medium term and long term,” Minister Rohee said.  
It is envisaged that the new proposals, once put into action, will be executed by GPF’s traffic arm and the GNRSC, with oversight from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Among the plans are a driver education and awareness campaign via television programmes, seminars with owners and operators of minibuses and hire cars, and educating police officers about executing their duties in a polite manner when interfacing with members of the public.
Commissioner of Police Henry Greene, Traffic Chief Neil Semple, and other senior officers will be guests on a television panel discussion organised to look at traffic issues.
The Police Commissioner told the agency that the programme will begin shortly and will be aired on a weekly basis.
“Lots of what we will be talking about is on education, talking about traffic signs throughout the country, putting up speed safety signs, pedestrian crossings, which the National Road Safety Council will be looking at. We will be looking at getting volunteers from the public who want to offer help to the National Road Safety Council with painting signs, education etc,” Commissioner Green said.
Asked whether the initiative will be effective, given the alarming number of road accidents, Commissioner Greene said, “It is part of what we envisage can be done, as you know, enforcement is critical to law enforcement, but that has to go along with education, engineering and all the rest of things,”  the top cop stated.
GNRSC will be preparing handouts in the form of flyers with useful information to members of the public, and will also be performing the task mandated by the President to ensure there are proper traffic signs on the country’s roads. (GINA)