The Ministry of Transport in Monrovia gears up to implement the Axle Load Control Project for road safety in Montserrado County and across all 15 political sub-divisions of Liberia.
Briefing reporters Monday, 4 February following a meeting with stakeholders, the project consultant and Head of the Technical Support Unit at the Ministry, Dave D. Diawoo says the forum was intended to keep all stakeholders abreast on steps that have been taken.
He says the significant of the meeting was to enable the Ministry of Transport implement the Axle Load Control project, which was legislated on February 24th, 2015by the 53rd Legislature under former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
He explains Axle Load is another means of road safety geared at overseeing deterioration of roads that will stop heavy duty trucks from plying the roads.
“Today was the assumption meeting, where the European Union, National Authorizing Office or NAO, and the German International or GIZ came together to start the ball rolling after which we will engage the various stakeholders that are involved into heavy duty trucks like Cemenco, NPA, Firestone, LPRC, Rock Crushers, among others for them to have their in-house waste station to avoid their heavy vehicles coming on the road with heavy load.”
Diawoo continues that the meeting was specifically about kicking off the Axle Load Control Law, and it is against this backdrop the Ministry thought it wise to bring all majors stakeholders together to implement and enforce compliance.
The Ministry of Transport was created by an Act of the National Legislature on August 25, 1987 to formulate and administer the transport, insurance and maritime regulations and policies of Liberia.
These include oversight responsibility for execution of policies relating to land, sea and air transport services in the country. It is also mandated to ensure strict adherence to insurance standards and regulations in collaboration with insurance agencies operating in the country.
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Diawoo says Firestone, NPA, LPRC and Cemeco are all stakeholders, including rock crushing companies, noting that those companies operate heavy trucks. “We want to know what weight their trucks carry to avoid damaging of the roads, because this project is targeted for 24 months, and after that period we hope to know where to put the waste station.”
He notes the idea to have the Axle Road Control project implemented comes with international best practice, saying countries in West Africa have done this, and this is why the EU is putting in money in order to have Axle Load implementation enforced to ensure road safety.
Transport Minister Samuel Wlue, expresses delight over the conduct of the meeting, which he says will enhance the work of the Ministry in protecting roads across the country.
“We all understand that Axle Load laws are important for the safety of our roads across this country, and it was by no mistake that this meeting is been held, even though I didn’t see a specific timeframe, but I’m glad that with the help of our partners, we can all achieve this”, says Minister Wlue.
By Lewis S. Teh –Editing by Jonathan Browne
