Bibiyana road safety project yields dividends

Chevron imparts training to locals

A well-constructed and well-maintained passenger shed is not something one would stumble upon too often in the rural parts of Bangladesh. The Bibiyana-Sayedpur road in Habiganj district, however, is an exception in this regard. Along the roads in and around the countryside of Bibiyana, with villages on one side and paddy fields on the other, energy giant Chevron—in association with BRAC—has set up 11 modern passenger sheds, all strategically located near schools or markets to ensure road safety in the area.
“We were trained on road safety, about how to walk along the roads, when to sit in the passenger sheds, and so on,” said Soma Akter, a student of Nadampur High School of Nobiganj, located near the Bibiyana gas plant, the largest gas plant of the country, which is operated by Chevron.
Like Soma Akter, around 4,500 students of 25 educational institutions in two upazilas, located next to the Bibiyana-Sayedpur road, have been trained and given learning materials on road safety and procedures under a joint road safety procedure project of BRAC and Chevron.
Not just the students, 63 schoolteachers, 326 rickshaw-pullers and 232 inter-district bus drivers have also been trained on road safety to make the area safe.
The area manager of the road safety project organised by Chevron and BRAC, Mohammad Azmat Ali, told The Independent that imparting road safety training to rural people was not an easy task, as they are not much aware of such matters.
“We took a holistic approach while implementing the project. We decided to create consciousness among the locals thorough the schoolchildren, who, in turn, would teach their parents at home. At the same time, we also decided to train the drivers and rickshaw-pullers about road safety,” he said.
The training provided under the project has apparently paid off, as it was seen that people in those areas consciously used the right side of the road while walking, and seldom tried to cross the road when there were vehicles on it. The rickshaw-pullers and bus drivers also tried to stick to the speed limit in congested places near bazaars and schools.
“We never knew what safe driving meant. We were trained on that aspect under the project. Now, I try to stick to the speed limit and follow the road rules,” said Nur Mohammad, an inter-district bus driver.
The organisers, however, feel that follow-up sessions of the training programmes are necessary to get the best results. “Providing training for once will not work unless there is continuous follow-up with the trainees,” said Malay Kumar Sarkar, Chevron’s field community engagement manager.
“We, from Chevron, always try to ensure that the training we impart is consolidated among the people through continuous and regular follow-up sessions. That is why we continuously monitor the trainees,” he added.

Bibiyana road safety project yields dividends

Chevron imparts training to locals

A well-constructed and well-maintained passenger shed is not something one would stumble upon too often in the rural parts of Bangladesh. The Bibiyana-Sayedpur road in Habiganj district, however, is an exception in this regard. Along the roads in and around the countryside of Bibiyana, with villages on one side and paddy fields on the other, energy giant Chevronin association with BRAChas set up 11 modern passenger sheds, all strategically located near schools or markets to ensure road safety in the area. We were trained on road safety, about how to walk along the roads, when to sit in the passenger sheds, and so on, said Soma Akter, a student of Nadampur High School of Nobiganj, located near the Bibiyana gas plant, the largest gas plant of the country, which is operated by Chevron. Like Soma Akter, around 4,500 students of 25 educational institutions in two upazilas, located next to the Bibiyana-Sayedpur road, have been trained and given learning materials on road safety and procedures under a joint road safety procedure project of BRAC and Chevron. Not just the students, 63 schoolteachers, 326 rickshaw-pullers and 232 inter-district bus drivers have also been trained on road safety to make the area safe. The area manager of the road safety project organised by Chevron and BRAC, Mohammad Azmat Ali, told The Independent that imparting road safety training to rural people was not an easy task, as they are not much aware of such matters. We took a holistic approach while implementing the project. We decided to create consciousness among the locals thorough the schoolchildren, who, in turn, would teach their parents at home. At the same time, we also decided to train the drivers and rickshaw-pullers about road safety, he said. The training provided under the project has apparently paid off, as it was seen that people in those areas consciously used the right side of the road while walking, and seldom tried to cross the road when there were vehicles on it. The rickshaw-pullers and bus drivers also tried to stick to the speed limit in congested places near bazaars and schools. We never knew what safe driving meant. We were trained on that aspect under the project. Now, I try to stick to the speed limit and follow the road rules, said Nur Mohammad, an inter-district bus driver. The organisers, however, feel that follow-up sessions of the training programmes are necessary to get the best results. Providing training for once will not work unless there is continuous follow-up with the trainees, said Malay Kumar Sarkar, Chevrons field community engagement manager. We, from Chevron, always try to ensure that the training we impart is consolidated among the people through continuous and regular follow-up sessions. That is why we continuously monitor the trainees, he added.