Road Safety Receives Two Vehicles from Transport Infrastructure Connectivity Project (TICP)
Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MoPWT), through the financing of the World Bank, International Development Agency (IDA) is implementing the Transport Infrastructure and Connectivity Project (TICP) and has planned to use part of the funding towards the cost of the strengthening of the road safety management capacity in Lesotho.
Lesotho faces a number of challenges in the area of road safety management, with high fatality rates in densely populated districts and high road accident incidences in the mountainous terrains thus resulting in the loss of valuable human resources and properties. Road safety problems in Lesotho are of two types: in the lower, more densely populated districts of Maseru and Leribe where approximately 50% of the road fatalities occur and where high traffic congestions exist, pedestrians suffer unduly due to inadequate pedestrians facilities; secondly due to particular driving conditions in the mountainous and foothill terrains and winding roads, the highlands parts of the country have high accident rates.
The Kingdom of Lesotho, through the MoPWT and RSD wishes to achieve the objective of the United Nation’s decade of action for road safety 2011 to 2020 which intends to reduce road accidents death by half between 2011 and 2020. In an effort to improve the road safety in Lesotho, the TICP in collaboration with the Road Safety Department procured two Toyota Quantum in respond to Pillar 4 Safer Roads Users of the Global decade of action for Road Safety that emphasise that, UN member states shall “develop comprehensive programmes to improves road user behaviour, sustained or increased enforcement of laws and standards, combined with public awareness/education to increase seat belt usage and helmet wearing rates, and to reduce drink driving, speed and other risks factors”. This pillar will be achieved through the increased awareness of road safety risks factors and prevention measures and implementation of extensive road safety campaigns on the high incidents road accidents blackspots.
This however, will help to influence change in road user behaviour, attitude and opinions hence achieving the TICP Project Development Objective (PDO) 2 “Strengthen road safety management capacity” in the Kingdom of Lesotho.
Overview prepared by
Mr. Teboho Mokhoane (PMP)®
TICP – Project Coordinator