KUCHING, Dec 9: By 2025, the Sarawak Government hopes to reduce the current average of one fatality resulting from road crashes daily, said Assistant Minister of Infrastructure and Port Development Datuk Julaihi Narawi.
He said by 2025, the State government hoped to reduce road fatalities in Sarawak by at least 10 per cent annual reduction.
“That’s why we sign this MoA (Memorandum of Agreement). We have to find out the strategies to reduce road accidents. This MoA will let us find out why so that we can reduce road accidents in Sarawak.
“For this, Unimas has been entrusted to carry out research and to come up with the findings and that’s why we give them the time frame from 2021-2025. So, they will have four years to find out the best strategies to find ways to reduce road accidents in Sarawak,” said Jalaihi after witnessing the MoA for Sarawak Road Safety Strategic Plan (2021-2021) between his ministry and Unimas at a hotel here today.
Julaihi added that the Sarawak Government has put priorities and give attention on the road safety of road users.
“Hence concerted efforts in providing a strategic framework for all stakeholders and key players to lay their roles in making Sarawak’s road safer,” he said.
At the same time, he said, the Sarawak government would continue to build better roads, especially in the rural areas.
Meanwhile, Professor Dr Wan Hashim Wan Ibrahim of Unimas, who will lead the studies said, the MoA would allow his research team to study the peculiarity of Sarawak roads.
“Sarawak has a unique traffic characteristic and road users’ characteristic which require its own safety strategic plan. Meaning to say that all agencies will have a concerted effort. So that by 2025, we can reduce the number of accidents happening in Sarawak especially where there are new roads being built, people using the road will be safe,” said Prof Wan Hashim.
The MoA was signed between the Sarawak Rod Safety Council who was represented by its chairman Datu Safri Zainuddin and Unimas’ Holding Sdn Bhd who was represented by its chairman Datu Dr Hatta Solhi. – DayakDaily
