Launch of pilot project in Tunisia

After months of hard work, September saw the launch of the road safety project ‘The Design and Establishment of a Road Safety Management System for Sfax Governorate Regional Transport Company (SORETRAS)’, within the framework of the EU MENA programme.

The ambitious but achievable project aims to reduce by 50% the number of road crash victims in the company by 2015 and to reach zero victims by 2020. The launch took place on September 11 in the presence of representatives of all the involved parties and partners including the Ministry of Transport, the National Observatory for Road Safety (ONSR), the Tunisian Association for Road Crash Prevention (ATPR), Vivo Energy (Shell Licensee) and the Tunisian Red Crescent.

Justifying the choice of Sfax Governorate and SORETRAS, Noureddine Sayadi, an official at the Ministry of Transport and the Tunisian delegate for the EU MENA programme said: “The figures presented by the ONSR in this governorate are alarming. Sfax records the highest number of road traffic deaths in the country with 151 victims in 2012, the second highest in number of injuries with 1319, and the third highest in terms of number of crashes. Investing in road safety here is clearly imperative”.

The project will work on eight key areas: road safety management, data systems, training, recycling, awareness raising for SORETRAS staff and the general public, fleet and rolling stock, infrastructure, communications and media. If successful after a trial period, the project may be replicated in other transport companies throughout the country.

As a fruit of this partnership, Vivo Energy, a Shell licensee company, will be developing a Road Safety Management Manual for SORETRAS complete with tools, educational materials and a programme to implement and evaluate the project.

From Beirut, GRSP MENA Regional Manager and EU MENA Team Leader, Samar Abouraad said: “We congratulate ourselves and our Tunisian partners for the launch of this project. We are sure it will yield positive results as it has been designed according to solid scientific criteria, based on good data and evidence and most importantly, it gives ownership to all the involved stakeholders. It is all of Sfax that will benefit.” she concluded.

Video: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=601324656591895&set=vb.100001430980…