Truck Workers Union suspends operation

By Naneka Hoffman 

The President of the National Dump Truck Workers Union of Liberia has temporally grounded all trucks in Caldwell, Montserrado County because of frequent accidents along the route.

Mr. Morris Sangare, says the decision is aimed at creating awareness among truck drivers to curtail wave of accidents as a result of excessive speed.

He says the Union held a workshop for drivers on Thursday that was graced by authorities from the Traffic Division of the Liberia National Police.

He explains that no truck was allowed to run in Caldwell during the workshop, adding “Before we can start any business, I will have a meeting with all the drivers to see how best they will be running and police will be there to put things under control. We do not want anything to happen between us and the citizens.” 

Mr. Sangare notes that if accident is too much it could lead to angry mob burning their trucks, which will create problems among drivers, motorcyclists and citizens.

“Because of the too much accidents on the road, the last time the community chairman called me and we held meeting with the commissioner; we went straight forward with that discussion but now, I want to have a series of meetings; I am going to start with the drivers and I will not get exhausted with the meeting with them to see how best we can put things under control so the accident rate can be limited in the country.”

Mr. Sangare says drivers are being abreast of their rights and advised to exercise care while driving. “When they are driving, they shouldn’t be on the phone and they shouldn’t overtake on the road; they shouldn’t drive with slippers.”

He continues that each time there is an accident involving truck drivers and commercial motorcyclists, drivers are blamed without any investigation so the best thing is to minimize the wave of accidents by careful driving.

Mr. Sangare says he thought it wise to organize such meetings to conscientize drivers because the Union does not want to fall in trouble with government adding, “We don’t want it that way so, we need to be careful with our driving and forget about telephone calls and take our own time because we don’t have  roads in the country.”

He discloses that the Union has more than 700 dump trucks in Caldwell.

 At the same time, he appeals to government to have crosswalks along the Caldwell road, and for motorcyclists to ride with care as the route is very narrow. Editing by Jonathan Browne