Gov’t moving ahead with retraining, certification for truck drivers

The government is moving closer to implementing a national retraining and certification programme for truck drivers as part of broader efforts to improve road safety, Labour Minister Keoma Griffith has said.

Griffith, who was a guest on the Starting Point podcast at the weekend, said that the policy framework for the initiative has already been completed and discussions are now ongoing with key stakeholders before the programme is rolled out.

“We’ve already completed the policy paper and we’ve already brought the Board of Industrial Training up to speed because the certification is going to be from the Board of Industrial Training,” the minister said.

According to Griffith, the next step will involve consultations with stakeholders, including the Guyana Police Force, to finalise key aspects of the programme.

The retraining initiative comes amid growing concerns about the behaviour of heavy-duty truck drivers on Guyana’s roadways, particularly speeding and their  role in serious and fatal accidents.

Griffith said the government examined the issue and decided that while punitive measures could be used, a more sustainable approach would focus on improving drivers’ skills and professionalism.

“We recognise that there is a problem on the roadways especially with our trucks and speeding and we had the opportunity to bring a punitive sanction to it or we try to see how we can fix it from the heart of where it’s at,” he said.

As a result, the government is proposing a system that will retrain and certify truck drivers through the Board of Industrial Training (BIT). The programme will complement measures already being implemented by the Ministry of Public Service, Government Efficiency and Implementation, along with the Ministry of Home Affairs.

“These three sectors will come together to see how we can manage this issue so that our families and our children, when they go on the roadways, they can do so in a safe manner,” Griffith said.

The initiative forms part of wider efforts by the government to address road safety concerns involving heavy-duty vehicles. Already the nationwide rollout of an Auto Control Speed Management System (ACSMS), which will limit heavy-duty trucks to a maximum speed of 80 km/h, has commenced.