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Guyana’s road fatalities in sync with middle income countriesMinister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee, in a press statement yesterday, has denounced Presidential Candidate for the APNU, David Granger’s statements he made about the traffic situation just after the Homestretch Avenue accident which claimed the lives of five persons, including an eight-year-old girl.According to the statement,Garett Bolles Jersey, it appeared as though the sole aim of Mr. Granger’s ranting was to mislead the public into believing that the government is doing nothing to deal with the traffic situation.“In an attempt to score some cheap political points, Granger takes a global issue and simplistically remodels it into a local political one.  In so doing,Scott Hartnell Jersey, his analysis is conjectural and lacks facts,” the release stated.It was explained that facts indicate that Guyana’s performance in addressing the road traffic situation is commendable and not deserving of this caricature.The release stated that World Health Organisation (WHO) in a recent report stated that road traffic accidents are of epidemic proportions in most regions of the world.  According to the Report, road traffic accidents have consistently been one of the top three causes of death for people between the ages of five and 44 years, worldwide.  The WHO informs that 1.2 million people are killed each year as a result of traffic accidents and 50 million more suffer non-fatal injuries.“The traffic death rate for low-income countries as reported by the WHO is 21.5 per 100,000 population and 19.5 per 100,000 population for middle-income countries. In comparison, traffic death rates in Guyana for 2009 and 2010 were 15.6 per 100,000 population and 15.3 per 100,000 population, respectively.“Mr Granger should recognise that both of these figures are lower than the average traffic death rates for low-income and middle-income countries.  Hence Guyana’s efforts show commendable results,” according to the statement.Further, the release said that Mr. Granger insinuated that the current road fatalities are mainly due to government’s inability to implement “correct policing, rigorous law-enforcement,Sokratis Papastathopoulos Jersey, efficient road engineering and proper licensing of vehicle drivers.”Rohee is adamant that Government is well aware of the fact that proper road infrastructure, road markings and signage make to road safety.  In this regard robust expenditures in these areas have been done in recent years as part of a comprehensive strategy to address this problem.It was noted that over $8.7 billion was allocated in 2009 to improve the country’s roads and bridges, with approximately $5 billion being used for roads and two billion for bridges.A further $1.7 billion has been used for the rehabilitation and maintenance of urban, rural and hinterland roads across the country. An $87 million project has been implemented for the improvement of road pavements.The works under this project include: sidewalks, road widening, bridge widening and footbridges. The objective of the project is to improve pedestrian safety and increase throughput at difficult junctions.Reflectorised road studs have been fitted along major sections of roadways and signage has improved.  Further, new signs warning of school crossing areas have been erected along several roads.Additional resources have been utilised for improving traffic lights and the installation of street lights. Further,Zay Jones Womens Jersey, bus stops,Alan Page Vikings Throwback Jersey, especially, in the City have been marked out and works are ongoing on the clearing of all non – traffic related articles from the right of ways/verges, such as abandoned vehicles, vendors stalls, piles of sand and construction waste.More than 50 such encumbrances have been cleared for the year already.  Indeed, the Guyanese public, probably with the exception of Mr Granger, is cognizant that all these measures are geared at improving road safety across the country.The implementation of the stray catchers programme is also aimed at reducing traffic accidents and deaths, Rohee said.Since its inception, 724 animals have been impounded. In addition, the Police have been proactive in utilising traffic education programmes to reduce deaths on the roadways.  Various public information tools have been utilised including: road safety information in the media and talks to schools and activities put on by the National Road Safety Council. “Our blinkered critic should know that the licensing of drivers is holistic with candidates being required to demonstrate both theoretical and practical competencies. The overall success rate for candidates undertaking both assessments last year was 76 per cent.”“Along with the improvements in road infrastructure and other measures mentioned, Government has moved to strengthen the legislative framework for road use. Scientific evidence gathered from cross country analyses have indicated the importance of appropriate legislation in responding to traffic accidents.The release highlighted that in October 2007,Cameron Sutton Womens Jersey, the Guyana Police Force launched a proactive initiative under the appellation “Operation Safeway”.“Operation Safeway” was a zero-tolerance programme aimed at strengthening enforcement of traffic regulations.An evaluation of “Operation Safeway” indicates that it has been able to reduce traffic deaths by 20 per cent and traffic accidents by 17.4 per cent so far. With regard to enforcement statistics, for this year the Traffic Department has made a total of 35,096 cases, this figure includes: 7,Devin Mesoraco Reds Jersey,660 speeding cases, 939 breach of condition of road service licence cases, 579 driving under the influence of alcohol cases, 377 use of a cell phone while driving cases, and 272 breach of traffic light cases.Mr. Granger claims that a US Report presents driving in Guyana as hazardous and that traffic death rate in Guyana is 70 per cent higher than in the United States.Comparative statistics again reveal the fallacy of Mr Granger’s analysis and his sole intent to dupe the Guyanese public.The 2008 WHO’s Global Status Report on Road Safety gives the traffic death rate for the United States as 13.9 per 100,000 populations.  The traffic death rate for Guyana in 2008 was 15.0 per 100,000 population.Percentage wise, Guyana’s rate was only seven per cent higher than the US rate; a good performance for a country at this stage of development.With regard to non fatalroad traffic injuries, the rate for the United States was 13.1 per 1,000 registered vehicles compared to Guyana’s rate of 10.6 per 1000 registered vehicles, which was 24 per cent lower than the US rate.“It will be remiss of the Ministry not to assure the Guyanese public that Government is not oblivious to traffic deaths and injuries on our roads.Neither is Government resigned to the fact that road traffic deaths is one of the inevitable consequences of development.” Rather, Government is deeply concerned about the wanton loss of lives on the road way.