The traffic situation in Accra is set to ease, as some 210 National Service personnel will soon be deployed to direct traffic across the city.
The 210 service personnel were outdoored today at the Police training school in Accra after three weeks of intensive training,
They were trained in traffic management, security, accident scene management among others.
The personnel are expected to complement the efforts of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) unit of the Ghana Police service to reduce vehicular traffic in the country.
The personnel were deployed under the urban traffic management module on the National Service Scheme (NSS).
About 1,000 graduates from various tertiary institutions are expected to be deployed nationwide under the module.
Speaking to citifmonline.com after the event in Accra, the Acting Executive Director of the National Service Scheme (NSS), Dr Michael Kpessa-Whyte said the module, among other things, seeks “to revive the spirit of patriotism and love among the youth.”
“We have had in recent times, huge traffic congestions and we thought that the large numbers of our youth coming out of the tertiary institutions who are now going to traverse into the world of work are a pool of resource that could be used to ensure that we can bring some order reduce the congestion on our roads and ensure that Ghanaian workers and commuters who are going to work have a hassle free morning and afternoon when they close from work. This is also to revive the spirit of patriotism and love for country in our youth.”
Role of personnel
Dr. Whyte explained that the personnel deployed to the streets “will also be collecting data on traffic incidents, some of them will be doing administrative work among others. So there is a lot that will be doing and I think that this will come one of the most attractive modules for national service personnel who will be coming into the scheme.”
Some of the personnel told citifmonline.com that they were elated about the work.
“I would say it is privilege being here. There is so much indiscipline on our streets and I believe our presence will really impact positively on the roads,” one of them expressed.
Meanwhile, the 210 newly trained personnel will hit the streets from September 1, 2015.
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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana