Monrovia – Senator Peter Coleman of Grand Kru County, Chair of the Senate Health, Gender, Children and Social Protection Committee, says survey conducted by health and monitoring entities shows that motorcycle related accidents have increased the level of disability among young people in Liberia.
Report by Henry Karmo – [email protected]
“Disability among our people in post war was among 16% of the population but recent statistics revealed that we are moving toward 20 percent because on an average, we have five to six young people that have become incapacitated and confined to wheel chair or paralyze because of motorcycle related accident,” Senator Coleman said.
“It is hard time we take a more rational approach on this issue. We cannot be ambiguous when it comes to critical issues that have serious impact on the lives of our young people, beside security implication it has serious public health implications.”
The Grand Kru County lawmaker was contributing to a discussion involving two separate communications submitted to plenary of the Liberian Senate.
The communications were made to the plenary by Senators Geraldine Doe-Sheriff of Montserrado County and Steve Zargo of Lofa Counties on the decision by the Liberia National police to remove restriction on commercial motorcyclists plying major streets.
In their communication, the two senators requested the plenary to instruct its transport and security, intelligence committee to invite the police inspector general, Patrick Sadue to explain reasons for lifting the ban on the motorcyclists.
Senator Doe-Sheriff wrote: “On the divergence, to my uttermost amazement, on Saturday, March 3, 2018 at 7 PM, I saw huge convoys of motorcyclists from the 12th Street on Tubman Boulevard as far as to ELWA Junction displaying their usual gymnastic chanting freedom at last, freedom at last. Colleagues, I see the regulations/restrictions as safety, and security measures which were welcomed by nearly everybody.”
For his past, Senator Zargo argues that the ban was based on two prevailing factors at the time: road accidents involving motorcycles and increase in usage of motorcycles and or motorcyclists in the commission of crimes, especially arm robbery.
“These two factors taken together were sufficient reliance to impose the then restrictions. Just within a very short period of time into the implementation of these restrictive measures, there was an appreciable decrease in the number of road traffic accidents involving motorcyclists on the one hand, while on the other hand, crimes like robbery and the likes, which were usually perpetrated with the aid of motorcycles, decreased as well,” Zargo said.