Ghana�s Road Safety In Danger �. As Road Safety Management Services Withdraw Services

The already deplorable situation of Ghana�s road safety is expected to get worse following the decision by the National Road Safety Management Services Limited (NRSMSL), the company responsible for towing breakdown vehicles on major highways, to withdraw services. The NRSMSL, The Chronicle gathered, has withdrawn all its heavy duty towing vehicles from the road, citing failure on the part of the government to give the go ahead for the new agreement concerning towing of accident and breakdown vehicles on the country�s major roads. The company, which is a subsidiary of Jospong Group of Companies, says it can no longer cater for its operational expenses, including payment of over 800 staff across the country and has therefore suspended its services.The Ashanti Regional Coordinator of the NRSMSL, Mr. Gyasi Appiah, told The Chronicle in an interview that until such a time that the government would give the go ahead and allow the company to obtain its funding from the Drivers and Vehicle Licence Authority (DVLA), it would not be able to sustain operations. Under the new arrangement which the paper gathered has been approved by Parliament and accented by the President, the NRSMSL would tow all accident and breakdown vehicles on roads free of charge and at no cost to owners of the said vehicles. The vehicles would be towed to designated yards managed by the company and would only attract charges after three weeks, if the owner fails to claim them. The cost would, however, be embedded in a new road worth charges to which the NRSMSL is expected to share with the DVLA, according to the new arrangement. But The Chronicle has gathered that the management of NRSMSL has ordered that all the heavy duty towing cars spread across the country, be brought back to the national headquarters in Accra, citing operational costs and huge expenses. Mr. Gyasi told the paper that the company had no choice but to take that radical decision since it was operating at a loss. �We could not generate any funds to take care of the huge expenses incurred on monthly basis; our workers are always on our neck and so we have decided to suspend services for now until the arrangement takes effect,� he noted. He, however, warned that the development would have serious repercussions on road safety in the country because it has the tendency to derail efforts at curbing road accidents in the country. �We know the inconveniences breakdown vehicles cause to vehicular traffic in the country not to talk of accidents; Ministry of Transport needs to act now in order to save lives,� he warned.