Gives 5-Month Ultimatum For Vehicles Owners to change Metal Seats
By Joseph S. Margai in Freetown, Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority (SLRSA) has outlawed metal seats in public vehicles. The measure takes effects within five months and targeted at drivers who are in the habit of removing cushion seats and replacing them with metal ones in their mini buses popularly known as “poda-poda”.
The ultimatum was issued Tuesday, July 25, 2017, by the institution’s Executive Director, Dr. Sarah Bendu, in a meeting with the executive members of the Motor Drivers and General Transport Workers Union at her head office on Kissy Road, Freetown.
Dr. Sarah Bendu said they wanted to ban all metal seats in vehicles since 2013 but their plan was delayed by the outbreak of Ebola.
“The urge to ban these metal seats was raised by the public during our various radio and television programs. 70 percent of the calls we’ve been receiving during our programs are for the removal of metal seats,” she said.
She disclosed that in 2013, her institution did a survey and they discovered that over 3,000 public vehicles were having metal seats, adding that they also discovered that when accident occurs, victims are left with multiple fractures, and sometimes, dead.
She said her agency has gone ahead to secure a supplier who will be importing cushion seats and has already imported two 40ft containers in order to replace metal seats. She noted that drivers should pay for the cushion seats by installment.
“The lives lost on the road is very important than the money that we chase. Because of metal seats, drivers are impoverishing other’s lives when accident occurs. We don’t want to loss lives carelessly,” she said.
According Dr. Bendu, after the five months ultimatum, they will start to arrest and tow two vehicles that are having metal seats weekly and would be only released if the seats are removed and replaced with cushion ones.
The President of the Motor Drivers Union, Mr. Alpha Umaru Bah, pleaded with officials of the institution to extend the grace period of replacing metal seats with cushion ones to one year. He said he would have to sensitize his entire membership about the ultimatum and they will work towards meeting the demand of the Authority to save lives on the road.
Bah said invited the importer of the cushion seats to a meeting with the Union’s members so that they can negotiate the price for the seats. Angela Bazzy, the importer of the cushion seats, said she used to sell the seats at a cost of Le500, 000 ($66.67usd) for big ones but because Dr. Sarah Bendu appealed to her on behalf of the drivers, she has reduced that amount to Le250, 000 ($33.33usd).
She further explained that she used to sell the smaller ones at a cost of Le300, 000 ($40.00usd), but they have reduced it to Le150, 000 ($20.00). “This consignment is just an experimental phase and if the drivers demand more we will import them without delay,” she assured.
A representative of the Ministry of Transport and Aviation, Unisa Sesay, said SLRSA is doing exactly the objective of his Ministry, which is to save lives.
