Despite global COVID-19 pandemic, Bloomberg Philanthropies remains committed to road safety partnership with Malaysia

IN spite of the global COVID-19 pandemic and worldwide economic downturn, Bloomberg Philanthropies (BP) remains committed in saving lives on the road in Malaysia.

The New York-based philanthropy organisation stated that it already started engaging with agencies in Malaysia since last year under the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS).

“Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic we are unable to travel to Malaysia for our scheduled kick-off meeting,” said BP in a statement.

Under the multi-partnership BIGRS programme, Malaysia is selected together with Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Mexico, Philippines, Tanzania, Uganda and Vietnam.

“In the meantime, our partners are actively making assessments of the country’s existing road safety policies and plans so that we are prepared to assist.

“We will be shifting some of our technical assistance from in-person workshops to teleconference/webinars and are committed to providing assistance as best we can during the pandemic,” said the statement.

With an abysmal record of road casualties in the last 30 years, Malaysia has been selected by the New York-based body, funded by billionaire Michael Bloomberg for the multi-partnership programme under BIGRS which will run through 2025.

In the last 11 years, Malaysia has recorded a staggering death toll of 78,000 due to road crashes with an average of 7,090 lives lost every year or 19 people killed every day.

Despite the reduction in road traffic since March in view of various restrictions on movement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Malaysia continues to record a high number of road deaths, with 4,262 reported up to November last year, far higher than the COVID-19 deaths for 2020.

With a pledge of US$240 million (RM972 million), the BIGRS goal is to save 600,000 lives and prevent up to 22 million injuries in low- and middle-income countries.

The statement said BIGRS supported the efforts of up to 30 cities to implement programmes like media campaigns to raise the awareness of risk factors, provide training on police enforcement, and redesigning high-crash, high-fatality corridors or intersections.

Asked in what way, cities or a city in Malaysia will enjoy BP’s assistance, the spokesperson said: “At the national level, our road safety initiative provides technical support from the World Health Organization (WHO) to assist countries in strengthening their road safety policies so that they meet international best practice standards."

Among the cities that have committed to BIGRS initiative are Addis Ababa, Bengaluru, Bogota, Buenos Aires, Guadalajara, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Kampala, Kumasi, Mumbai, New Delhi, São Paulo, Salvador and Recife.

“At the city level, our partners provide assistance to the city agencies on enhanced data collection, strategic communications, police enforcement and road design so that each of these areas work harmoniously to promote road safety," said the statement.

So far, no city in Malaysia has been finalised.

Road Transport Department (JPJ) road safety division director, Dr Wong Yau Duenn said it is likely that Kuala Lumpur is among the 30 cities under BIGRS.

“Since last February, we have been working with Vital Strategies, an organization partnering BP on road safety. On the Bloomberg Philanthropies main team, I understand they will be in touch with KL Mayor,” Yau Duenn told Astro AWANI.

Statistics gathered from Bukit Aman traffic investigation and enforcement department has shown that Kuala Lumpur recorded the highest number of road crashes and most deaths for a district in Malaysia in 2018 with 70,468 crashes which resulted in 222 deaths, 362 minor injuries and 80 suffering from serious injuries.

“We have been in touch with the (Malaysia's) National Road Safety Agency, which remains committed to collaborating with Bloomberg Philanthropies and our partners through this initiative.

“Our partners are able to review road safety plans and provide input based on international best practice, but our initiative does not fund the implementation – that is the role of the local or national government,” the statement said.

From data gathered by the WHO, road traffic injuries are the global number one cause of deaths for those aged five to 29 and the eighth leading cause of deaths overall.

Every day an estimated 3,700 people are killed on the road around the world or 1.35 million annually.

Another 50 million people are seriously injured in crashes each year, with many left crippled and unable to work which costs governments three to 5% of the gross domestic product (GDP).

BP also stated that local civil society organizations are eligible to apply for a road safety funding under the programme.

“They need to be a registered NGO (in Malaysia) with the ability to accept foreign funding, capable of entering into contractual arrangements, and assuming legal and financial obligations,” the statement added.

Video: Road safety media campaign in 2020 by Bloomberg Philanthropies and Vital Strategies in collaboration with authorities in Cali, Colombia. It shows the deadly consequences of speeding and urges motorcyclists to slow down.

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* Shahrim Tamrin is a writer with deep penchant for road safety in Malaysia

** The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of Astro AWANI.