September 15, 2021
By Ilyasa Baa
The Directors of the Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority (SLRSA) and the Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA) have held discussions on the revival of the Traffic Management Committee.
The revival of this committee, according to the Public Relations Officer of SLRSA, Abdul Karim Dumbuya, would help fast track road works for the benefit of road users and the country at large. He said with the revival of the committee, there will be a great difference in the road sector which he said is currently faced with a lot of challenges. He said human activities, in releasing funds for quick fix are part of the challenges faced in the road sector. He noted that fixing of road signs and road markings are not under their purview as some people believe, adding that the proposed committee would prevail on the Road Maintenance Fund Administration for quick fixes to avert accidents on the roads.
Civil Society activist, Charles Mambu has described the road network as being in bad shape. He said the lack of enforcement of the rules on the roads is responsible for the current deplorable status of the roads especially from Calabatown to Blackball Road in the east end of Freetown. He mentioned Rawson Street as one major street in the heart of the city that has become an eye sore with spontaneous traffic jam due to street trading and the lack of enforcement. Charles Mambu has made a clarion call for the implementation of the Axle Policy which has been on the draft stage for the past six years. He said this policy would bring into the sector more revenues from especially those vehicles in the profitable timber business. He expressed the need for the Hillside Bye-Pass Road which has been under construction for over fifteen years now, to be fast tracked to ease the traffic congestion in the city.
The SLRA has stressed the need for people not to misuse the roads noting that active work is done only after the rainy season. According to Engineer Momodu, the roads are not doing too bad noting that countries like the Gambia and Liberia have been coming to learn from them as the Authority is in the posture of learning from other countries to sustain its roads.
However, motorists and drivers plying the city have called on SLRA to patch the potholes on the roads claiming that they encounter series of setback due to poor maintenance of the roads.
It could be recalled that government had provided $40 million for forty roads across the country and according to Engineers; the road sector is one of the most expensive infrastructures government has to put money on.