KINGSTON, Jamaica — Dubbing the number of persons who have lost their lives on the nation’s roads due to accidents as “unacceptable”, Minister Without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, Floyd Green has expressed that the matter of road safety will need an all-hands-on-deck partnership approach.

The Minister said he believes the loss of lives from fatal crashes is “highly preventable” and revealed that the Prime Minister has asked him to work with various organisations to strengthen road safety culture among citizens.

“The Prime Minister has tasked me to work along with the Council and Minister Shaw to strengthen our efforts in this regard and to re-engage the private sector around this critical issue,” he said. “It is an issue that has caused a lot of emotional distress in every nook and cranny in Jamaica, as people try to cope with the sudden and untimely loss of loved ones; and the sudden loss of income by sometimes the sole breadwinner in the household.”

The Minister was speaking recently in the House of Representatives where he disclosed that the World Health Organization (WHO) has determined that countries can lose between 1-5% of their GDP because of road traffic injuries, posing a serious economic concern.

Green went on to share that one of the areas that has been flagged for urgent attention is the surge in motorcycle deaths which have moved from 17 per cent of total road traffic deaths in 2012 to 34 per cent in 2021.

In response to the latter, the National Road Safety Council have started training sessions in the areas that account for the largest amounts of motorcycle deaths. 300 motorcyclists have been trained in Westmoreland and the Council is now undertaking training in Mountainside, St Elizabeth.

In total, 420 bikers have been trained, and over the last two years, 720 helmets have been distributed.

“We are moving to partner with the FIA Foundation, an international agency to embark on a more comprehensive program to address this issue of motorcycle crashes,” Green announced reiterating that the Prime Minister has indicated that Jamaica will be taking the Safe Systems approach as a guiding principle in the Government’s efforts and commitment to reducing the carnage on the roads.

The necessary policy formulations will be developed over this year.