DEVELOP INNOVATIONS IN ROAD SAFETY (PAGE 28, OCT 16)

THE Deputy Minister of Transport, Mrs Dzifa Attivor, has called on automobile companies operating in the country to develop innovations in road safety practices.
She expressed regret that road accidents, which used to be the sixth on the list of 10 major causes of death in the country, had assumed a prominent position.
Mrs Attivor said the National Road Safety Commission’s (NRSC’s) projections indicated that road crashes would take the third position on the list of causes of death by the year 2020 if nothing substantive and immediate was done about it.
She was speaking at the opening of $2-million Vulco Tyre Centre by Rana Motors in Tema.
The new auto-boutique, which is expected to become a one-stop retail facility for Goodyear Tyres, would afford clients a wide range of tyres to suit their personalised choices and make available a choice of accessories for all types of vehicles.
The deputy minister commended Rana Motors for setting up the centre saying that road safety on our roads had over the years been compromised largely through poor vehicle maintenance, lack of adequate and genuine spare parts, human errors, poor visibility and recklessness and expressed the hope that the new workshop would contribute towards road safety.
She called on automobile distribution and related companies in the country to set up assembling points to complete the cycle of transfer of technology and provide employment for the youth.
Mrs Attivor said stakeholders should not hesitate to involve artisans in the Suame magazine in Kumasi and Kokompe in Accra and other centres across the country, which are making strides in the maintenance of vehicles.
According to Mrs Attivor, the ministry would continue to strengthen the NRSC and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) to promote road safety campaigns and safety standards and called for a ban on the importation of second-hand tyres into to the country to avert tyre-related incidents.
The Chief Executive Officer of RANA Motors, Mr Essam Odaymart, said the Vulco concept was designed to bring a first class auto-shopping experience to its clients.
He noted that the retail franchise, which was introduced by Goodyear in 1996 as a convenience shop to its customers, offered quality automobile products and services under one roof.
The concept, which began in France, had since been implemented in Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Croatia, Serbia and Morocco, with the Ghana centre being the first in the West African sub-region.
He said the concept was being promoted on the continent by the West African Tyre Services (WATS) and would soon have outlets in Takoradi, Kumasi, Ouagadougou and Bamako.
The Managing Director of WATS, Mr Vinay Kapoor, who has an oversight responsibility over Vulco, said the brand, which is built on safety and performance, would address the numerous road accidents in the country.
Present at the ceremony were Mr Ali Tamimi, Head of VULCO in Africa and the Middle East and representatives from various automobile companies operating in the country.