Nestle, World Bank sponsor road safety sensitization

A discussion to create further decline in road accidents in small and medium economies of Africa including Cameroon was held at the Star Land hotel in Douala recently.

According to the Global Road Safety Partnership whose mission, with the assistance of the World Bank, is to help address and sustainably reduce the catastrophic phenomenon of road insecurity, road crash deaths, injuries, and loss of investments in low-and middle –income countries who suffer an alarming 90% of the 1.3 million annual deaths, 50 million serious injuries and loss of hundreds of millions of dollars of which are directly linked to road accidents.


Troubled by these alarming statistics, the global food production giant in Cameroon, Nestle led by the D.G Bruno Olierhoek and to a lesser extent, other collaborators in the likes of Activa, Zurich, Gras Savoye and GRSP, honorably decided to invite other international and home experts within the Cameroon Road Safety Foundation also led by Edwin Minang, to share ideas and experiences that could just turn out to be the road map for all African Countries which they themed simply as "Let's Discuss the Road".


Aside factors like over speeding and faulty vehicles on the streets, special focus was given to new and old malpractices like phoning while driving, drinking while driving, driving when drunk, overloading, road depreciation and lack of maintenance, standards in road infrastructure and streets, the management and mobilization of road risks in enterprises. They stressed on the need to educate all sectors including school children and driving school proprietors who were criticized by some persons for not doing enough.


Listening, watching slides, and lecture from a cross section of participants from Cameroon, Francophone Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia, Miss Cameroon, chipped in her advice to road users.

The SUN gathered that the conference was intended to involve everybody, public or private, the young and the ignorant, to be educated on matters related to road safety, to develop programs where we live, towards the good practice of road security and to put what we have learnt into practice.


Speaking to Bruno Olierhoek later on his impressions he said, "Nestlé and Suppliers or partners have been very instrumental in promoting road safety in Central and West Africa and will continue to do so as a founding member of the 'safe way right way Foundation'.


The idea has been to reach out to a cross-section of the people as much as possible, (you can see Miss Cameroon here) with our message on road safety because it involves practically everybody; the collaborators and experts from various countries who are here to give testimony. I mean everybody and that is what we have succeeded in doing here today."


Other positive comments were heard from Edwin Minang of the Cameroon Road Safety Foundation.