The new National Road Safety Council (NRSC) has been charged with the responsibility to continue assisting in reducing the number of road fatalities annually and boosting the life expectancy of Guyanese.
A Government Information Agency (GINA) press release on Wednesday stated that since the NRSC was revived in 2006, there has been a 42 percent reduction in the number of reported road fatalities.
And Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, delivering his charge to the new executive of the NRSC, emphasized that road safety should not only be the responsibility of the council and the police but the role of all Guyanese in ensuring discipline on the roadways since road accidents are the number nine cause of death in Guyana.
The council comprises members of several Government Ministries, Non- Govern-mental Organisations (NGOs), the Police Force, the media and the private sector.
The press release also stated that Minister Ramsammy urged that the council assist in implementing the laws of Guyana that deal with road fatalities, including the ones recently enacted by the government such as the Summary Jurisdiction (Amendment) Bill that prohibits all public transportation from having devices that play music and the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill that allows drivers to consume no more than two beers and an alcohol level of 0.08%/100mm blood.
Ramsammy also noted that the current life expectancy in Guyana is 68 years but efforts are being made toward ensuring that this figure can be increased to 70 years by 2010 by reducing road accidents.
The Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Guyana Police Force and the Traffic Department through a surveillance system will be monitoring the number of deaths and disabilities due to road accidents since this contributes to decreasing life expectancy, GINA added.
