'Cameroon is becoming a model in Africa'

The Cameroonian government, through the Ministry of transport (Mintrans), has expressed satisfaction after the recent report by the World Bank (WB) on road safety worldwide, published on Tuesday, August 4, 2015.

In the chapter on Cameroon for the period between 2008 to 2014, the Bretton woods institution announced that in 2014, for instance, the number of people who lost their lives through different roads accidents in the country decreased by 31%.

The information was revealed by WB during an evaluation meeting held at the Ministry of transport (Mintrans) in the presence of its Departmental head, Prof. Robert Nkili.

Specifically, the World Bank’s 2008-2014 report on road safety in Cameroon indicated that the number of traffic accidents had reduced from 2 460 to 2 330, while the number of those killed dropped from 935 to 790 after a peak in 2011, where Cameroon had recorded 1 139 deaths through road accidents.

This bond, considered extraordinary by the authorities, is likely to satisfy the Minister of transport, Pr Robert Nkili who noted “the World Bank announced that the mortality rate on our roads have decreased by 31%.”

According to information from the World Bank, Cameroon is becoming a model for Africa. "This is the reason why the World Bank wished that Cameroon would take part in the work planned in November in Brasilia."

Moreover, beyond the usefulness of the report by the World Bank the authorities see as a progress, this important statistical document must also enable the government to assess the weaknesses of the system; like the support of workers or the issue of logistics of health units to manage emergencies arising from traffic accidents.

"We make more effort in the development and preservation of roads. There is also the behavior of users that we must also take into account because 80% of the causes of traffic accidents are humans. Finally we should look into the aspect of research of data so as to make good decisions", indicated Peter Tanifor, the representative of the World Bank Group in Cameroon, over CRTV while calling for the support of workers on road safety strategies.

Based on this point, the UN diplomat thought that "it is an area that needs particular attention because till this day, it is difficult to know exactly what happened after an accident. Whereas research shows that nobody died at this stage.

The report which lists a total of 120 000 kilometers of road on the national territory with only 5 600 tarred roads in Cameroon. The country placed 25th out of the 53 African States.