By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
The Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRSA) is considering banning Serena vehicles from plying all major highways across the country.
The authority said the decision is based on statistics which show that Serena vehicles accounted for the highest number of vehicles that were involved in road accidents last year.
Serena is a brand of Nissan vehicles. In Sierra Leone it is one of the most common brands of vehicles used for public transportation.
Ambrose Tucker, Research and Development Manager at the SLRSA, told Politico that they had conducted analysis on some of the most common vehicles that were involved in road accidents across the country and found that Serena vehicles led the pack.
Tucker said: “We did an analysis on Serena vehicles, Toyota Hilux, Mitsubishi van, Mercedez Benz, Nissan Fortuner and Nissan Sony van. From all these statistics, we realized that 68 cases were recorded involving Serena.”
He added: “Whiles for Totoyota Hilux 40 cases were recorded, Mitsubishi vans, 53 cases, Mercedez Benz Toyota van 56 cases, Nissan Fortuner, 23 whiles Nissan Sony 36.”
Abdul Karim Dumbuya, Public Relations Officer of SLRSA, said as a result of these numbers they were planning to recommend the banning of Serena vehicles to the Ministry of Transport.
“We had picked it up, we had the hypothesis. That is why we stationed people in strategic places, from Masiaka till Blama in Kenema District. These people were the ones that gave us statistics like the cars involved, the age of the drivers and every other things. Based on these statistics we are planning to ban Serena vehicles on the highway. They will only be restricted to running within township, like Wilberforce to Lumley, but they will not be allowed to do intercity tours,” Dumbuya said.
Serena vehicles are three-seater vehicles designed to accommodate seven passengers aside from the driver; three in each of the two rows and one passenger in front.
But the practice in Sierra Leone has been that drivers overloading the vehicles with ten passengers, three more than its normal capacity; four in each of the two rows and two in front.
On Thursday Politico spoke to the President of the Motor Drivers and General Transport Workers Union, Alpha Amadu Bah, who said they had not been informed about the plan. He noted that such a move could not be taken without their consent.
“If they decide to do so on their own, we will not abide by it. They would be depriving thousands of families who are dependent on these drivers. If they are worried about accidents, then they should ban Okada (Motorcycles) because they are also involved in a lot of accidents,” Bah said.
In his response to statistics of Serena vehicles involving in accident, Bah said: “Even the statistics they have we are the ones that provide some of these statistics. They should not be banned for that.”
SLRSA say 512 people died in road accidents last year, including 39 children.
The ban on Serena vehicles may not come into force anytime soon, Dumbuya said they would have to present this year’s plan to the Ministry of Transport and Aviation and make the recommendation the Transport Ministry.
“We are under the supervision of the Ministry of Transport; we will have to discuss with them and tell them our plans for this year concerning road crashes and make recommendations. The Minister will then adopt it and take it to cabinet and cabinet will also send it to the Attorney General and it will be a policy, just the way we banned right hand vehicles,” Dumbuya said.
Tucker said their analysis had shown that drivers with Serena vehicles attempted to ply the route up to three times per day.
“Most of the Serena drivers over speed and this is one of the major causes of accident. They overspeed because they want to do three trips per day from Freetown to Bo. By doing so other causes like human error and fatigue will come in,” he said.
This is not the first time SLRSA have proposed such plans. Last year, to decongest traffic in Freetown’s city center, the authority also proposed to ban buses from entering the main city center.
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