By Mabinty M. Kamara
“Operation clean up for road safety”, a drive aimed at decongesting the streets of Freetown is set to continue according to officials. The first phase of the operation started on the 6th of December and ended last Saturday, 18th of December 2021 with some areas yet to be cleared.
Speaking to Politico, the Director of Road Safety and Enforcement, Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority (SLRSA), Augustine Kaitongi, said the operation which targeted 54 major streets they considered to be congested was borne out of concerns raised by the house parliament on the state of the streets in the city particularly in relation to abandoned vehicles.
He said before the commencement of the operation, they did research that led to the identification of the targeted areas and that in the first week of the operation, they towed 185 vehicles. Kaitongi added that illegal garages operating in the streets of Freetown were also a contributing factor to the mass deaths recorded recently during the Wellington, PMB inferno.
He said the success of the operation to a large extent has to do with collaboration and cooperation from stakeholders such as the Traders Union and those in the transport sector. However, he said the major challenge that the operation encountered was that people kept coming back to areas they have already cleared. “Some of the areas we have cleared, we still see few vehicles around by the road being repaired by the garage owners and this is very frustrating,” he said.
He added that to sustain the operation, they divided the team into two; with one doing monitoring and accessing compliance while the other team concentrated on other areas like Brookfields having many alternative routes that can aid the flow of traffic.
As of the 16th of December, he said 34 out of 54 streets have already been cleared by the operation. “If we are unable to visit the remaining streets, then we will do an extension.”
While assuring the sustainability of the operation, he said Section 120 of the Road Traffic Act empowers the Authority to tow and fine vehicles abandoned along the road with the tendency to create danger for other road users. But Kaitongi said very few people have been coming up for their vehicles because most of the vehicles towed are beaten down abandoned on the roads.
He therefore called on all to comply with SLRSA by refraining from illegally parking or abandoning motor vehicles by the roadside and also for the Traders Union to embark on a push back campaign involving their members to ensure safe roads for all.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online (20/12/21)
