Tanga launches action plan to ensure road safety to children, youths

TANGA City Council has launched a Safe and Sustainable Transport Action Plan to protect children and adolescents from road accidents.

The action plan has been developed in collaboration with the Tanga City Council, Foundation Botnar and multiple stakeholders, including government agencies, the private sector, civil society organisations, schools, youth, road users, and international organisations.

Amend Tanzania will serve as the secretariat for the Action Plan, organising regular workshops and meetings to drive progress and ensure accountability.

While reports show that 71 per cent of Tanga City school children and youth walk, 72 per cent use motorcycles, 2.4 per cent have been injured in road crashes in the last 12 months, with 23 per cent suffering serious injuries.

Tanga District Commissioner Hashim Mgandilwa, who launched the Action Plan, emphasised the importance of protecting road infrastructure, saying vandalism caused not only financial but also human losses.

“The government has invested a lot of money in road infrastructure, but there were a few individuals who were sabotaging these infrastructures through thefts of road signs, which are important in ensuring safety of  road users,” he said.

Mgandliwa expressed hope that the Action Plan would reduce the number of fatalities among schoolchildren, youths, and other road users; stressing that the entire community has a responsibility to implement the plan because road safety is a cross-cutting issue.

Mr Atsani Ariobowo, Project Manager of the Geneva-based Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP), said that making roads safer for children makes the roads safer for everyone.

He asserted that the action plan reflected the aspirations of the people of Tanga City.

Amend Tanzania Country Manager Simon Kalolo explained that  his organisation focused on improving the road infrastructure by constructing Zebra crossing  near schools and providing road safety awareness education to school children and bodaboda operators.

“The zebra crossing signs have been built in eight primary schools in the city,” he said, revealing that the Tang program was a pilot that they expect to replicate in all urban areas.

Dr Hassan Mshinda, a representative of the Foundation Botnar, stated that the project is one of many programs being implemented under the Tanga Yetu program, which is funded by the Foundation Botnar. The Tanga Yetu program aims to improve children’s and adolescents’ health and well-being.

“Its primary focus is on health, education, community development, employment, and creativity, with the goal of preparing young people to face the realities of the twenty-first century,” he explained.