SAC Vice Chairman Deputy Prime Minister Vice-Senior General Soe Win addresses first NRSC meeting
NAY PYI TAW September 2
The National Road Safety Council (NRSC) held the first meeting at the Ministry of Transport and Communications here at 2 pm today, addressed by NRSC chairman Vice Chairman of State Administration Council Deputy Prime Minister Vice-Senior General Soe Win.
Also present were Union ministers, the Nay Pyi Taw Council chairman and officials.
Chief ministers of regions and states, mayors and officials participated in it through video conferencing.
The Vice-Senior General said this is the first meeting of the newly formed NRSC during the administration of SAC. The accomplishments of the former NRSC should be reviewed at the meeting to successfully take road safety measures and adopt better programs in accord with the National Road Safety Action Plan (2021-2030). The main goal is to terminate traffic accidents by gradually reducing the number of road deaths and injuries. As the scope of the task is enormous, its progress calls for active participation of the entire people.
According to the WHO’s Global Status Report on Road Safety (2018), an average of about 1.3 million people lost their lives and over 50 million were injured annually in the whole world.
The global road death rate is 18.2 percent 100,000 persons,and the rate is highest in Africaand Southeast Asia. Among the causes of human deaths, road accidents stand at the eighth place. The fatality rate of children and young persons, who are valuable people, is the highest.
The road accidents leave 3-5 percent loss of GDP in the majority of countries annually, and developing countries are facing these losses which triggered timely increase of road users and rapid growing number of vehicles with lack of implementing comprehensive road safety measures in time.
In order to hamper the gradual growing of traffic accidents as a tremendous threat, the global countries have been emphasizing the road safety measures for second decades. The Global Ministerial Road Safety Conference held in Moscow of Russia in November 2009 released a Moscow Declaration.
Hence, the United Nations adopted the Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020) based on the Moscow Declaration.
Likewise, ASEAN countries are implementing the ASEAN Regional Road Safety Strategic Plan whereas Myanmar is also taking road safety measures under the National Road Safety Action Plan (2014-2020).
The road safety becomes a global concern, emphasizing the Decade of Action for Road Safety activities. On the other hand, the Article 3.6 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) schemed to reduce 50 percent of dead rate in the traffic accidents for the aims of global countries. Myanmar will participate in implementation of the Decade of Action for Road Safety activities as a dutiful country of the global family.
In implementing the Decade of Action for Road Safety of the world, the road safety management, the safer road and mobility, the safety vehicles, the safer road users and the post-crash response are being implemented.
Based on the aforesaid pillars, Myanmar is striving for implementation of the road safety process, securing the deserved success. Hence, the NRSC will continue implementation of the Myanmar National Road Safety Action Plan (2021-2030) for the second decade under the vision and action plan.
In order to effectively undertake the road safety measures, it is necessary to give training to road users, firmly adopt the vehicle and road disciplines, urge users to abide by the prescribed disciplines and perform inspection. And, the Vice-Senior General stressed the need for systematically inspect maintenance of vehicles and urge users to install traffic preventive facilities at vehicles.
Moreover, road quality control tasks such as drawing correct road designs, construction of roads that meets standards and regular maintenance of roads must be carried out without fail.
In doing so, it is necessary to take 5 Es system used in the international community such as education, engineering, enforcement, emergency medical care and evaluation into consideration.
Based on 5Es, priority must be given to sectors that can be implemented effectively within a short period by correctly reviewing the situation on the ground faced by the country.
Similarly, measures must be taken based on 7s Implementation Framework for road safety such as strategy, structure, skills, shared, systems, staff and style. The NRSC is respon sible for implementing all these measures as the leading council and measures must be systematically to enable the Nay Pyi Taw Council, state and region levels, district levels and township levels to cooperate concertedly.
State and region road safety councils including the four subcommittees of the NRSC are required to review tasks in the previous action plan, quick-win measures and international cooperation and to discuss and give advice on ways and means to successfully and effectively implement tasks that reflect the reality of the country based on new ideas at today meeting.
As traffic accidents are problems mainly caused by human factor, the road safety vision of “Towards Zero Together” will be achieved one day when all requirements are met proportionately such as observance of rules and regulation by individuals, maintenance of vehicles in good conditions, making roads safe and observance of disciplines by road users. To realize the vision, relentless efforts must be exerted in accordance with the objectives, goalsand tasks included in the National Road Safety Action Plans (2021-2030). Therefore, departments, organizations and individuals that are responsible for road safety are required to exert serious efforts in cooperation with each other. Measures must be taken consistently without losing sight of the goal to reduce the number of deaths due to road accidents by 50 percent of base-year 2019 by 2030.
Then, vice chairmen of the NRSC union ministers Lt-Gen Soe Htut and Admiral Tin Aung San explained the matters related to national road safety.
Afterwards, secretary of the NRSC Director General U Zaw Min Oo reported on matters related to the annual reports of the NRSC (2021), action plan of the NRSC (2021-2023) and tasks being carried out and future plans of the NRSC.
Then chairmen of road safety councils in Nay Pyi Taw and states and regions including the chairman of the Nay Pyi Taw Council, chief ministers of states and regions and responsible officials explained the measures for road safety. Members of the NRSC union ministers U Win Shein, U Maung Maung Ohn, U Khin Maung Yi, Dr Charli Than, Dr Nyunt Pe, Dr Thet Khaing Win, U Shwe Lay, Dr Thida Oo and responsible officials made supplementary reports.
Afterwards, the Vice-Senior General coordinated the discussions and suggestions and the meeting ended with concluding remarks by the Vice-Senior General.