The Vietnamese Ministry of Transport on December 16 kicked off a $36 million road traffic safety project financed by the World Bank (WB) and the Vietnamese Government, the first such project in Vietnam.
Of the total investment, the WB will provide $31.73 million in loans for the project and the remainder will come from the Vietnamese Government.
The project, which is to be implemented from January 2006 to June 2009, aims to enhance cooperation between relevant ministries, sectors and localities to execute the project on a 512 km stretch in the three routes on the National Highways 1A and 51.
According to Transport Minister Dao Dinh Binh, the project would be conducted synchronously with other traffic safety measures like enhancing the capacity of traffic regulatory institutions, increasing awareness of traffic safety, building a database on accidents and eliminating danger spots on highways.
It would also seek to toughen regulations on issuing driving licenses, checking vehicles and providing for treatment for accident victims, he said, announcing also the establishment of a traffic safety experts group.
Jerry Lebor, head of the World Bank’s projects on traffic safety, said the project would enable the WB to invest more in traffic safety projects in Vietnam, as the country was ranked among the top in traffic accidents in the region and the world.
Le Minh Chau, general director of the Traffic Safety Project Management Unit, said that Vietnam witnessed 13,250 traffic accidents in the first 11 months of this year, killing about 10,418 people and injuring 11,041 others.
Nearly 67 per cent of accidents occurred on roads, with 30-40 per cent of cases resulting in deaths.
Lack of awareness of local people and poor quality of the transport system were mainly blamed for the situation.
VNS, Vietnam Economic Times
Vietnamese
