Works Secretary David Wereh signs UN petition to improve road safety for children

The Secretary of the PNG Department of Works, David Wereh, has signed a UN petition to improve road safety outcomes for children in the country during a seminar in Port Moresby on 8 May.

The seminar was hosted by the department for road safety stakeholders and funded by the Australian Government through the PNG-Australia Transport Sector Support Program.

PNG is a signatory to the UN Decade of Action on Road Safety which aims to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on the country’s roads.

Secretary Wereh signed a petition ‪#‎SaveKidsLives‬ - the worldwide and official campaign for the Third United Nations Global Road Safety Week (4-10 May 2015). The campaign is calling for action to save children’s lives on the roads around the world. To sign up go to savekidslives2015.org

“Road safety is a shared responsibility and the Department of Works is committed to our role of continuing to build skills, learn and implement engineering best practice on the nation’s road network,” Mr Wereh said.

Stakeholders from other sectors including health, education and enforcement agencies were also invited to the seminar to take part in the dialogue and improve their understanding of the engineering aspects of road safety.

A key presentation introduced and explained the importance of findings from a recent visual road condition survey, funded by the Australian Government. The survey data owned by the Department of Works covers over 6000km of PNG’s road network and provides insights into the condition of the network.

The findings were presented along with a range of investment options to make hazardous locations safer on the Highlands Highway. Engineers were reminded of the value of evidence in the planning process for designing and engineering safer roads.

The seminar continues the long term commitment from the Australian Government working with the Department of Works to providing training to staff to develop knowledge and skills that will support sustainable improvements across the transport sector.