Living in Peru : your everyday companion

(LIP-wb) -- Alarming numbers: More than 4.000 people die and nearly 40.000 are injured every year in traffic accidents on Peru's highways and roads, according to a report by Peru's Citizen Protection Agency (Defensoría del Pueblo) titled "At risk: Safety in inter-provincial transportation”.

Chairwoman Beatriz Merino referred that the report is the result of a thorough investigation of the weak supervising capacity of the State.

Merino stressed that a workgroup of the agency conducted a rigorous revision of 289 files stored at the Ministry for Transportation and Communication, as well as from regional governments in Arequipa, Ica, Junín and La Libertad.

She remarked that the report demonstrates a very limited operational capacity of the State to control Peruvian transportation companies, as well as a profound lack in punishment of company managers, drivers and conductors leading to serious consequences.

The report includes a series of recommendations for Peru's Congress, national and regional governments in order to prioritize their agendas for a better security in interprovincial transport of passengers by granting necessary resources, the elaboration of a road safety plan, and to increase the Road Safety Council's competences and responsibilities.