By: Audrey John
The Executive Director of the Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority (SLRSA), Reverend Smart K. Senesie on Wednesday June 29, 2022 solicited the Collaboration of the Sierra Leone Insurance Commission (SLICOM) towards the establishment of Post-Crash facilities to alleviate the plight of road crash victims in the Country.
The request for Collaboration was disclosed by the Executive Director during a meeting between the SLRSA and SLICOM at the Commission’s Headquarters, Hill Station, and Freetown.
Explaining his initiative to the SLICOM Management, the Executive Director intimated that Road Safety was a serious challenge for all category of road users in Sierra Leone. He said the consequences of road traffic crashes affect not only individual families but also impact on the country’s development Agenda.
He pointed out that, the loss of lives; the degree of injury inflicted on victims, the financial loss, the medical and maintenance associated with road crashes were enormous.
The Executive Director stated that, the SLRSA decided to solicit the support of both the Sierra Leone Insurance Commission and the Insurance Industry to jointly address key challenges facing road safety.
Reverend Smart K. Senesie proposed the formation of a Highway management Unit, construction of a major hospital at Masiaka and clinics along major road corridors and training of paramedics to manage post-crash facilities.
He appealed to the Insurance Commission to support the initiative to mitigate human suffering on our roads.
Responding on behalf of SLICOM, the Acting Commissioner of the Sierra Leone Insurance Commission thanked the Executive Director for the initiative and assured him of the full cooperation of the Commission. He suggested the formation of a technical committee to look into the proposal and develop action plan for the attention of both the Commission and the SLRSA.
Deputy Executive Director, Mr James Bio, lamented over the lack of facilities in the Country to swiftly respond to emergency on our roads and highlighted some of the major steps the Authority had taken to address the challenge.
The Director of Technical services, SLICOM, Mr Madi Sesay called for the development of both short term and long term measures in the implementation of the initiative.