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SPEECH

YANG BERHORMAT PEHIN ORANG KAYA HAMZAH PAHLAWAN DATO SERI SETIA AWANG HAJI ABDULLAH BIN BEGAWAN MUDIM DATO PADUKA HAJI BAKAR,
MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

LAUNCHING OF THE LAND TRANSPORT WHITE PAPER FOR BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

AND

OPENING CEREMONY OF THE NATIONAL ROAD SAFETY SEMINAR

"THEME: OUR STRIVE TOWARDS SAFER SYSTEMS"

MONDAY

22 SAFAR 1436 / 15 DECEMBER 2014, 8:45am

DEWAN AMAR PAHLAWAN

MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS

BISMILLAH HIRRAHMAAN NIRRAHEEM.

ALHAMDULILLAH HI RABBIL 'ALAMEEN WASSALATU WASSALAMU 'ALA ASYRAFIL AMBIYAA IWAL MURSALEEN. SAIYIDINA MUHAMMADIN WA'ALA AALIHI WASAHBIHI AJMA'EEN.

Yang Mulia Dr Hj Supry bin Hj Ag Ladi, Acting Director of Land Transport Department, as Deputy Chairman II of the Brunei National Road Safety Council and Chairperson of the National Road Safety Seminar Organising Committee.

Yang Berhormat Datin Paduka Dayang Hajah Salbiah binti Haji Sulaiman, Yang Berhormat Dato Paduka Awang Haji Abdullah bin Haji Mohd. Ja'afar, Yang Berhormat Datin Paduka Hajah Zasia binti Sirin, Yang Berhormat Awang Haji Gapor @ Haji Mohd Daud bin Karim, Yang Berhormat Awang Haji Tahamit bin Haji Nudin, Yang Berhormat Awang Haji Jumat bin Akim, Yang Berhormat Awang Haji Ramli bin Haji Lahit, Yang Mulia Wakil Setiausaha Tetap Kementerian Pendidikan, Pemangku Pengarah Pentadbiran, Yang Mulia Pengiran Haji Rosli bin Pengiran Haji Halus.

Yang Mulia Awang Abdul Mutalib bin Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Setia Dato Paduka Hj Mohd Yusof, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Communications and Chairman of the Brunei National Road Safety Council,

Yang Mulia Dato Paduka Seri Awang Bahrin bin Mohd Noor, Commissioner of the Royal Brunei Police Force and Deputy Chairman I of the Brunei National Road Safety Council

Yang Mulia Dato Paduka Dr Hj Zulkarnain bin Hj Hanafi, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education (Higher Education)

Yang Mulia Awang Mohd Riza bin Dato Paduka Hj Mohd Yunos, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Communications.

Yang Mulia Associate Professor Dr Zohrah bin Hj Sulaiman (Acting Vice Chancellor, Institut Teknologi Brunei)

Our Keynote Speaker, Mr Khairil Anwar Abu Kassim, Secretary General of ASEAN New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP), the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS).

Directors, Deputy Directors, Members of the BNRSC, Seminar presenters, Invited Guests, Senior Officers, Ladies and Gentlemen,

ASSALAMU'ALAIKUM WARAHMATULLAHI WABARAKATUH

AND A VERY GOOD MORNING.

1. Firstly, I must congratulate the committee for organising this national seminar on road safety.  The joint organizing between the Ministry of Communications and Institut Teknologi Brunei (ITB) in collaboration with the Brunei National Road Safety Council (BNRSC), demonstrates another concerted efforts of all agencies towards reducing road accidents in the country.

2. Congratulations also go to ITB on the recent establishment of the Centre for Transport Research (CfTR).  The setting up of the CfTR is timely as this was one of the policy recommendations highlighted in the Land Transport Masterplan. I certainly hope the already exisiting collaboration between the Ministry of Communications and ITB in transport sector research could be further strengthened in the very near future.

Ladies and gentlemen,

3. Allow me to share some of the key points that I recently highlighted during a National Forum on sustainable Land Transport Masterplan (LTMP) for Brunei Darussalam, held two months ago.  One of those key points highlighted was the issue of road congestion that we will potentially be experiencing due to:

1. The high car ownership ratio with an annual average 9% growth rate of vehicles. This translates to a high dependency on private vehicles in meeting our daily mobility needs.
2. The number of vehicles against the length of our roads which is 3167km in 2013, an increment of only by 44km from 2012 (3122.7km); and
3. There are only 105 public buses, 465 school buses and 45 taxis in Brunei Darussalam that are inadequate to provide an alternative modes of transport in the country!

Ladies and gentlemen,

4. This morning, we will shortly launch the White Paper for Land Transport. In line with Wawasan 2035 and our Ministry's vision of a Smart Society and Excellence in Communications by 2017, this White Paper contains National Transport Policies that form the basis of a National Land Transport Strategy and its implementation plan.  It sets out a series of Land Transport Policies under 7 strategy goals containing 38 high-level and long-term policy recommendations.

5.  These 7 strategy goals provide the basis for the development of specific national transport policies and the foundation for the LTMP which identifies four (4) broad Strategies:

• Reducing Car Dependency;
• Keeping Traffic Moving;
• Achieving Sustainable Society; and
• Strengthening Governance.
  
   

6. As a sector that affects all segments of the population, the implementation of the LTMP will offer the following:

1.  More employment opportunities;
2.  Increased efficiency in the movement of people, goods and services both in the country and regionally; and
3. Achieving social sustainability with specific emphasis on reducing road traffic injuries and fatalities.  

Ladies and Gentlemen;

7. Let me now touch on road safety and initatives to generally reduce road fatalities.  In 2013, death from transport accidents is among the top 10 major causes of death in Brunei Darussalam. Globally, road traffic injuries are the eighth leading cause of death, and the leading cause of death for young people aged 15–29.  According to WHO, about 1.24 million people die each year on the world's roads, and the cost of dealing with the consequences of these road traffic crashes runs to billions of dollars.

8. For Brunei Darussalam, as of 30^th November 2014, there are 22 road fatalities recorded where almost half are made up of vulnerable road users like motorcyclists and pedestrians.  From therse statistics and other findings that will be shared during this seminar, I am confident that Brunei Darussalam would be able to align further its road safety initiatives and strategies with its set targets and objectives.

9. In this opportunity, I am pleased to note that the CfTR have been working closely together with the Brunei National Road Safety Council in setting the national target of 35% reduction in fatality rate by 2020. This target was set based on evidence of historical road fatalities data and new measures introduced in line with the Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020).

10. In addressing the national road safety issues, the LTMP defines a core set of national road safety targets and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for different user group and types of accidents as follows:

1. by 2020 to reduce the number of Killed & Serious Injury (KSI) by 50%, the number of Child KSI by 60% and the number of slight casualties by 25%;  and
2. by 2025 to reduce the number of KSI by 60%, the number of Child KSI by 70% and the number of slight casualties by 35%.

11. The fatality rate reduction target set by CfTR and the KSI reduction target under the LTMP provides avenues for further collaboration between Ministry of Communications and ITB.  I also look forward to other land transport-related research areas pertaining to Electric Vehicle (EV), Vehicle energy labeling scheme, and other research work in maritime and civil aviation, amongst others.

Ladies and Gentlemen;

12. Lastly, I wish to thank the Organising Committee for inviting me as the Guest of Honour for today's event.  I also wish to convey my heartfelt appreciation to the members of the BNRSC for their passion and continuous commitments and most importantly, to all of you who are here this morning.  I wish you all the best and may you all have a fruitful and insightful discussion over the next two days!

Thank you.

DENGAN KALIMAH BISIMILLAHIR RAHMANIR RAHIM DAN BERTAWAKKAL KEHADRAT ALLAH SUBHANAHU WATAALA,

I OFFICIALLY:

• LAUNCH THE LAND TRANSPORT WHITE PAPER FOR BRUNEI DARUSSALAM AND
• DECLARE THE NATIONAL ROAD SAFETY SEMINAR OPEN.

WABILLAHI TAUFIK WALHIDAYAH. WASSALAMU'ALAIKUM WARAHMATULLAHI WABARAKATUH.​