The Ashanti Regional Command of the Motor Transport and Traffic Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service, has held a day’s engagement with proprietors and drivers of private schools in the Kumasi Metropolis, on safe ways to convey staff and pupils to school on buses.

The event was to help forge a closer working relationship with the participants and the police to prevent fatal road accidents, which could occur due to the huge numbers of school children, who are usually crammed in school buses when they were being transported to school.

Superintendent Emmanuel Adu Boahen, the Regional Commander of MTTD who led the discussions, mainly centered on overloading of school buses and road traffic regulation breaches, said virtually all private schools were guilty of overloading their buses.

He said as law enforcement officers, his men could not turn blind eyes to the obvious violation of road regulations by the schools, since important human lives were at stake.

“However, any action to clamp down on the menace could also affect the education of the children, so we found it necessary to engage you the proprietors to ensure that the right thing is done,” Supt Boahen said.

The MTTD Commander said the practice exposed the innocent children to a lot of road hazards and admonished the proprietors to take immediate steps to halt it.

He advised them not to sacrifice the safety of the children for economic gains, stressing the need for the drivers to observe traffic regulations.

Supt Boahen bemoaned the lack of road worthiness of most school buses, adding that, most of them were not fit for the roads and even worse to transport children.

Counseling the drivers to insist on the roadworthiness of the vehicles at all times for their own safety and that of the children, he warned that they would not be absolved of the blame if they were arrested.

The participants commended the MTTD for the initiative and pledged their cooperation to fight the canker.