The death toll on the Paul; Biya Boulevard in Buea, South West Region, has steadied after dozens of persons were sacrificed to accidents after the removal of the middle ridge on the boulevard.

The Buea Council and the Cameroon Road Safety Foundation, CAROSAF, thus met on September 9 to review their one-year-old partnership aimed at toning down accidents on the Biya Boulvard and to compare notes and strategise to guarantee an accident-free 2014/2015 Academic Year.

Ekema Patrick Esunge, Buea Mayor and Edwin Minang, Coordinator of CAROSAF used the opportunity to reaffirm their determination to bring to zero the number of accidents within Buea during this school year. They agreed that the speed limit within Buea should be 30km/h and that the zebra crossings on the boulevard and other road signs should be respected by all road users.

Mayor Ekema said the partnership with CAROSAF went into action in August 2013. He said 23 deaths from accidents on the Biya Boulevard were confirmed by medics within two months after the middle ridge on the boulevard was scrapped, reason why the Buea Council sought for measures to mitigate the accidents.

The partnership saw the training of some staff of the Buea Council on Road Safety measures. These staff were deployed to strategic road junctions last year to help pupils and students, among others to cross the road.

In the course of the 2013/2014 academic year, Mayor Ekema said no pupil was knocked down by a vehicle, reason why the campaign for an accident-free school year must be reinforced.

On whether there are plans to reinstate the middle ridge, Mayor Ekema said such funds, if any, should rather be used to provide portable water and farm-to-market roads since all is being done to contain accidents on the boulevard.

With the zebra lives fading out and roadsides sued for parking, Mayor Ekemna said the council will seek authorisation from the relevant state services to renew the paint on the zebra lines. He also announced that work is underway to pen parking lots around the town, particularly around the major markets within the municipality.

CAROSAF’s Edwin Minang said the accident-free 2014 campaign is among the several activities carried out by his organisation. He said the Accident-Free 2014/2015 campaign falls within the framework of the United Nations Secretary General’s pronouncement for a decade of action for road safety from 2011 to 2020.