Africa-Press – Liberia. The ArcelorMittal Liberia community awareness on rail and road safety has reached Bong County, three days after its official launch in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County.
ArcelorMittal Liberia (AML) in collaboration with the Liberia National Police (NLP) on Monday launched annual community Road and Rail Safety Caravan, an awareness campaign in communities along the rail line in the company’s three operation counties of Bong, Nimba and Grand Bassa.
Speaking in Zoweinta, AML Community Relations Supervisor, Alberta Dolo said weeklong mobile awareness is aimed at increasing awareness on road and rail safety, to prevent accidents and protect lives.
Dolo said the team, following the official launch of the awareness in Buchanan has been to several communities, especially around the rail line, in Grand Bassa, prior to entering in Bong County, on Tuesday, evening.
She further told the gathering that the awareness campaign seeks to prevent rail, road, and work-related incidents in local communities by reinforcing life-saving messages on community safety; alerting the public to road and rail dangers; ensuring all major communities are reached in the community safety awareness and education programs; and help develop an understanding about the refurbished railway of AML.
“This Road and Rail awareness campaign we are using the Community theatre to educate local community dwellers on safety issues. The Community awareness campaign conducted both in English, and the local dialects, through drama and statements has so far reached communities that border the railway as well as local schools, where residents and students about the danger in playing on the railway,” she added.
She said the team had spent the night in Botota, on Tuesday, and travelled to Green Hill Currey and Zoweinta, on Wednesday, spreading the message rail and road of safety.
“This awareness campaign is a weeklong campaign that will continue in other communities along the 250 km long rail line until it reaches the mining town of Yekepa, Nimba County,” Dolo said.
She advised parents not to allow their children to play on the railroad, cautioning that the railway is not a safe place for play. She at the same time ward community residents against removing rail tiles, rocks or any material from the train railway, as doing so could cause accident or train derailment.
For their part, the citizens lauded the AML for the awareness and knowledge shared with them, and vowed to take measures that would keep them safe.
The locals, at the same time thanked the company for its developmental undertakings in the affected communities, especially in Bong.
Many Bongese are excited over the pending construction of the AML 1.5 million Sports Park in Palala City, Bong County.
The recent increase in rail tiles theft has continued to affect AML’s production because of derailments, in addition to accidents as a result of unsafe practices along the rail line by some community residents.
Grand Bassa’s Chief of Traffic of the Liberia National Police, Santos Pedersen revealed that unsafe practices by residents along the rail line contribute to accidents and train derailments leading to damages to properties, and loss of lives, over the years.
He said in most cases, investigations established that pedestrians behave carelessly on the rail line and cause harm to themselves, and damages to the rail line.
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