POBNEWS24, Dhaka Feb 8, 2024 : The fourth Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) meeting of Dhaka Road Traffic Safety Project (DRSP) has focused on ensuring safer traffic environment in the capital as Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has been implementing the DRSP since March, 2022.
The DRSP is being implemented under a technical cooperation project supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to strengthen the capacity of police personnel for realising comprehensive road safety programmes in Dhaka, an official release said.
DRSP Project Director Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Md. Munibur Rahman chaired the JCC meeting at DMP headquarters on Wednesday.
The project leader of JICA Expert Team (JET) Yoshida Asada presented the outline and the current status of the project.
In his remark, Rahman laid emphasis on strong collaboration among all JCC stakeholders including the city corporations and road transport authorities to ensure a comprehensive safe traffic system in the capital.
“The main purpose of the project is to make the traffic condition easy to the city dwellers residing in Dhaka. We need to work with close collaboration in positive mindset so that we can show the people light in the end of the tunnel,” said the project director.
During the JCC, DMP high officials and JET members gave separate presentations on the progress achieved in the last six months as well as the future activities on DRPS’s three outputs – traffic safety education, traffic accident report and traffic regulation and enforcement.
While giving a presentation on Output-1, DMP’s Additional Deputy Commissioner (Traffic Admin and Research) Kazi Romana Nasrin said that the project has already conducted the Practical and Participatory Education Programme (PPEP) in three schools with banners and pamphlets to raise awareness among children, teachers and community people.
DRSP has decided to expand the PPEP in schools across all traffic divisions in Dhaka and organise another poster and slogan competition for road safety like last year, she said.
She added that DMP and Sisimpur (SWB) also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work together to promote road safety awareness among the children.
Regarding Outputs-2 that aims to enhance DMP’s capacity for traffic accident reporting and analysis, DMP’s System Analyst Sharmin Afroz said the project has already enhanced the current data collection software named “Database and Analysis of Road Crash (DARC)” and is introducing a highly optimised data collection form, “Responding Officer’s Observation Form (ROOF)”.
The new accident form ROOF can be digitally filled at the crash site via DARC’s mobile app, enabling the collection of GPS coordinated data and photos, and streamlining the data gathering process, she said.
In line with the aims of Output 2, DMP and JET are now focused on implementing enhancements to the smartphone app and data collection process.
Last September, under its output-3, the DRSP has implemented a pilot project on Bus boarding and alighting at Kakoli Bus Layby in Banani to mobilise both bus drivers and bus passengers to obey traffic rules and conduct safe behavior, said joint Commissioner (Traffic-North) Abu Rayhan Muhammad Saleh.
After the piloting, a survey found that 97 percent of the bus users recognized the safety issue at the site and expressed desire for its integration in daily life.
So, there is also a plan to implement another pilot project focusing on Safer Pedestrian Crossing in collaboration with Dhaka North City in May or June next.
Besides, DMP’s Additional Deputy Commissioner (Tejgaon zone) Jahangir Alam presented the results of the training in Hyderabad, India, while Deputy Commissioner (Media and Public Relations) Mohammad Faruk Hossain highlighted DRSP’s public relations activities with a future plan to initiate a Media Fellowship programme on road safety.
Director of the Infrastructure Management Department of JICA headquarters Yasuhiro Suhara expressed his expectation that the valuable insights gained from the upcoming training in Japan would enable the officials of DMP and other stakeholders effectively to apply Japanese traffic safety methods in Dhaka.
Okazaki Yumi from JICA Bangladesh Office expressed an interest in collaborating with the DMP and JCC members to implement the project, and hoped that it would contribute to a safer traffic environment in Dhaka.
