Angola’s Cabinet Council approved Monday the National Plan for Road Safety and Prevention 2023-2027, a document that contains the strategic and operational objective aimed to reduce the number of road accidents in the country.
The Plan, according to the final communiqué of the meeting, chaired by the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, also contains the actions to be implemented in view of the factors identified which contribute to road accidents in the country.
The Executive intends to improve the training process for vehicle drivers, develop a culture of road education, guarantee efficient management and increase the levels of safety of infrastructures, vehicles and road users.
The project also aims to improve and expand rescue and assistance to the victims of accident, thus reducing the death toll resulting from road accidents.
Water Sector
The session also approved the Regulations for Commercial Relations of Supply and Wastewater Sanitation Services as well as the Regulatory Information Regulation of the Water and Wastewater Sanitation Subsector.
The measure aims to boost the legal framework applicable to the Water and Sanitation Subsector, with regard to the duty of information of the Management Entities to the Regulatory Entity, thus allowing the creation of an ecosystem of concise, credible and easy to interpret information.
The session also approved the Regulation on the Quality of Service Provided in the Public Water Supply and Wastewater Sanitation Subsector, a document that also establishes, within the scope of reinforcing the powers of the IRSEA, the minimum levels of quality that must comply with the services provided in the said subsector, as well as the due compensation in the event of non-compliance.
The session approved the Sanctioning Regulation of the Water and Wastewater Sanitation Subsector, a diploma that establishes the sanctioning regime applicable to transgressions, infractions or non-compliance with the rules on the exercise of public water supply and sanitation of wastewater.
The determinations and recommendations of the Regulatory Entity of the Water and Wastewater Sanitation Subsector were also endorsed, also stipulating the norms that conduct the contravention process and the general rules on deadlines, notifications and decision.
Energy Sector
In this regard, the Cabinet Council took note of the General Guidelines for the Preparation of the National Plan for Rural Electrification.
The said planning instrument’s main objective is to bring electricity to remote areas of the country, in order to improve the quality of life of the population and promote the economic and social development of these regions.
Health area
As for the Health Sector, the Cabinet approved the National Contingency and Emergency Plan for the Prevention of Influenza A (H1N1), an instrument that establishes a set of guidelines and procedures that, within a certain framework, aim at an effective response in the face of the threat of a pandemic by Influenza A.
To this purpose, the Executive intends to secure the continuity of essential services to the population, safeguarding people and the country’s economic and social situation.
The plan foresees, among other strategic actions, the establishment of a multi-sector and multi-disciplinary coordination mechanism at national, provincial and local level; analysis of the risk of introducing and transmitting the disease in the country.
It also plans, promotes and monitors the implementation of the measures contemplated in each phase of the Contingency and Emergency Plan; the reinforcement of the National Public Health Epidemiological Surveillance System in relation to possible suspected cases in risk groups.
The same programme foresees the notification of flu cases; reinforce the institutional capacity of laboratories and establish mechanisms for detection and screening of the H1N1 virus in suspected human and animal cases; and implement preventive measures from an agricultural point of view and community awareness and mobilisation.
Reform of Business sector
As part of the implementation of the Roadmap for the Reform of the Public Business Sector, the session approved the transformation of Road Cargo Transport companies (Unicargas, U.E.E.) and Public Urban Transport of Luanda (TCUL, U.E.E.), into joint-stock companies.
However, reads the statement from the Cabinet Council, both institutions become companies in the public domain.
Thus, the said companies, henceforth, are renamed “Unicargas – Empresa de Transporte Rodoviário de Cargas, S.A.” or abbreviated “Unicargas, SA.” or even “Unicargas” and TCUL – Empresa de Transporte Colectivo Urbano de Luanda, S.A. or abbreviated “TCUL, S.A.” or even “TCUL”.
The Executive intends, with this transformation, to give a new dynamic to the structure and operation of these companies, through a business management model that ensures the achievement of greater efficiency and openness in the segments of freight transport, logistics operation and people and goods.
Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)