By Agele Benson Amos
Alarmed by the high number of accidents, motor cycle and bicycle taxi operators in Yei River County are pleading with the police to help them with training on road safety.
Although it has been a major source of livelihood for the many youths in the County, the ‘boda boda’ business, as it is known in Yei, has killed many operators in road accidents. The operators are now pleading with the police and government officials to organize training sessions to equip their members with traffic safety skills.
The ‘Boda Boda’ Union Secretary, Mr Wayi Kennedy said road accidents would wipe out all young people in the county if nothing was done to train them on road safety. “We are losing many young people in road accidents. They are struggling to make a livelihood but they don’t have the road safety skills needed. Something has to be done,” he said. Some of the riders, he added, were very young and did not know how to ride the automobiles. “The Union does not register members according to age because if age was to be used, many of the youths will be shut out of the business. What we need is training and not regulations that will bar many of us from the business,” he said.
The secretary urged the ‘boda boda’ riders to obey traffic signs on the road and also use a moderate speed. “I am also cautioning the riders against operating at night because most of the accidents occur at that time,” he added. Kennedy said many of the riders also operate motorcycles without number plates and insurance, making it difficult to get insurance whenever they were involved in accidents.
The traffic director for Yei River county, Andrew Kenyi said the number of accidents in the county has reduced because of strict enforcement by his officers. However, he said there was an urgent need to train the ‘boda boda’ cyclists on road safety. According to Kenyi, five people have died in road accidents since in December while forty others were injured. He said more traffic police officers will be deployed to schools and market areas to control traffic and avoid accidents. “We are deploying more police officers because the bumps that were controlling the movement of vehicles have been removed,” he said.
A fifty year old woman, Ester Asa, a resident of Erap area in Yei town payam, Yei River County, expressed her worries about the safety of nursery school children who had to cross the roads every day. “Motorists over speed on the roads, putting the lives of the children in danger. If nothing is done, then we will lose all our children,” she said.