The Joint National Transport Safety Committee, Nigeria (JNTSCON) has urged citizens to inculcate safety consciousness in all their dealings especially while using public infrastructure.
JNTSCON Chairman, Akwa Ibom Chapter, Dr Preferred John, made the call on Tuesday during a press briefing ahead of the South-South National Industrial Transport, Occupational Health and Safety conference in Uyo which was organized in collaboration with the Akwa Ibom State Local Content Compliance Monitoring Committee.
John who harped on preventable culture advised the people to be conscious of the state of the vehicles they drive taking note of all the road signages; the state of their gas cylinders at homes and the environment they live in saying it was profitable to maintain safety than facing the hazards associated with non-compliance to safety measures.
According to him, “We are taking our campaign on safety consciousness seriously. The committee will use the conference to create awareness of the need for Nigerians to inculcate safety consciousness, especially while using the public infrastructure.
“The vehicle we are using, the gas cylinders at home, we should ensure there is no leakage and have turned off all the electrical appliances while leaving the home or going to bed and ensuring that the doors are locked, the occupants of your home are all in. The committee will have a seminar on safety compliance, road safety and environmental compliance as well because we want to promote preventable culture.”
John disclosed that the committee would have compulsory training for all the gas and petrol stations on safety measures and how to use fire extinguishers.
He also reminded truck owners and drivers that it was an offence to park trucks on the roads to obstruct free flow of traffic without getting clearance or waivers, stressing that offenders would be prosecuted.
“We will look at the state of road infrastructure in the state and how the federal or state government can intervene for instance most of the road signs have been decayed and pulled off, zebra crossing, u-turn etc which do not give motorists advanced information on how to manage the road. We will make recommendations to the federal and state governments and on our own we will see what to do based on the available resources to address some of these issues and try to sensitize the drivers.” He said.
Speaking on the Akwa Ibom State’s move to clampdown on people selling kerosene and fuel by the road side also known as black marketers, the chairman said the committee would take a different approach noting that they (black marketers) would be trained on the best practice to adopt in going about their business because they add value to the economic development of communities and the state as a whole.
“If you go to local communities, in Akwa Ibom, there is no filling station and it is those people that are driving the economy in those places. We are not here to destroy the chain, rather we will sensitize them on safety measures to adopt while going about their business.” He said
The chairman said JNTSCON as an advocacy and compliance committee would sensitise and create adequate awareness on nigerians before enforcement.