By Abubakarr Harding
The Civil Society Consortium on Community Accountability and Service Delivery has on Thursday July 14th 2022 called for the reduction of ten percent (10%) from each fee paid as insurance fee to insurance companies to address issues related to accidents.
“We want insurance companies to deduct 10% from every insurance fee paid to them and deposit it to a special account that will be managed by SLRSA to respond to accident victims,” Chairman of the Consortium, William Sao-Lamin stated during a one day sensitization event held at the Sierra Leone Motor Drivers and General Transport Workers Union at Texaco, East of Freetown.
He furthered that the money should go straight to the SLRSA Special Unit account to take care of accident victims revealing how they have engaged drivers, Kekeh and bike riders on the importance of the exercise, adding that they are educating people how to protect their lives and properties after accidents.
“We want Government to build a well-equipped hospital at Masiaka to respond to accident victims. We also want every Government hospital at regional and district level to get a separate Unit and equipped with nurses and equipment to deal with accident cases,” Sao Lamin said. He recalled that several people have died and amputated due to accidents maintaining that insurance companies have not done much to pay insurance to accident victims.
He said they have already engaged several Government institutions and officials including the Chief Minister on the issue.
The spokesman of Drivers Union, Mohamed K. Conteh lauded the move taken by CSOs. He said there has been no law to force these insurance companies to pay claims, claiming that they have been losing hugely.
He said the third party insurance does not cover drivers but passengers describing drivers as vulnerable people without any insurance to cover them. He called for the collaborative efforts of all stakeholders to ensure the realization of the initiative.
In his contribution, the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Hassan Jonathan Kamara said for far too long vehicle owners, drivers and passengers have suffered with no compensation after accidents. He also called for collaborative effort to ensure the realization of the dream which he noted seeks to reduce death rates during accidents.
