I am again strongly urging the Government to use the European agreement on the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road as a baseline for the formulation of a national Hazmat road transportation policy and safety systems framework for T&T with utmost priority. I find it surprising that the Ministry of National Security has not pressed on with this matter since it is considered a critical pillar for counter-terrorism strategies. Is the ODPM restricted in its scope to natural disasters? Dan-gerous goods transport providers need to adhere to rigid standards of safety, including equipment integrity and reliability, training, auditing and response capabilities.
Ideally, notification, such as by GPS, of all dangerous cargo moved over land by a central authority is crucial to have first responder units with the necessary equipment and trained personnel on standby for containment response wherever needed. Information such as what is the exclusion zone or the contamination reduction zone or whether or not the road users are still in a blast radius must be quickly available for effective deployment of counter measures by public safety responders. Suppose the tanker that overturned on Tuesday on the Solomon Hochoy Highway had been carrying sulphuric acid (which is commonly used in many industries) and spilled its contents over innocent, unsuspecting road users, what would have been the result? I think that picture says it all. Please let's get serious about road safety.
Brent Batson
President, Arrive Alive