Pernod Ricard Ghana, a subsidiary of Pernod Ricard and a leading producer of wines and spirits, in partnership with Street Sense Organisation (SSO), has embarked on the ‘Metwi a, Mentwa’ road safety campaign to sensitise commercial drivers and commuters on the detrimental effects of drink-driving ahead of the Easter festive season.
The ‘Metwi a, Mentwa’ road safety campaign was launched in December last year and has the objective of improving road safety consciousness among high-risk commercial drivers and motorcycle riders to provide enhanced and safer transport services for commuters.
Speaking at the campaign ground, Sustainability and Responsible Manager for Pernod Ricard Ghana, Eunice Osei-Tutu, said the initiative formed part of the organisation’s objective not only to educate the public on responsible drinking, but also to reduce accidents on the road.
“We are committed to fighting alcohol misuse and creating a better way to live and work together, to bring good times today and for generations to come. This campaign is one of our programmes under the Responsible Hosting pillar of our sustainability and responsibility roadmap. It is also in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3. We are optimistic that, creating awareness among commercial drivers about the dangers of drink-driving is one way to help reduce deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents,” she said.
Director of Operations and Monitoring Evaluation for Street Sense, Gabriel Dake Kofi, acknowledged that the sensitisation, since its launch, has enlightened drivers about the effect of drink-driving. He added that the awareness so far has transitioned into a significant decline in road accidents.
“Street Sense is an advocate for road safety, and we have embarked on this project one too many times. The campaign is more about ensuring sanity on our roads, making sure that the accidents on our roads will be lessened; and for the impact, we can refer to the national statistics. Compared to previous years, there has been a drastic change in the level of accidents recorded and I can say it has reduced drastically,” he said.
He believes that a consistent creation of awareness against drink-driving will clear the roads from recording high cases of accidents. “These drivers are aware of whatever message we are trying to pass, but in the short-term we want to be able to change the narrative about drink-driving; and in the long-term we are looking at reducing the rate at which accidents happen in the country”, he said.
He urged drivers to drive within the speed limits on all roads in the city, stop for pedestrians and adhere to all the safety driving procedures.
The sensitisation will take place in over 10 transportation stations across Greater Accra including the Obra Spot, Neoplan, Tema station in Accra, Tudu, Ashaiman, Tema, Lapaz, Kasoa, Amasaman and Nsawam.
