The 9th Meeting of the Heads of Road Authorities (HORA) on 5th April 2010 at Sultan Ballroom, Le Meridien, Kuala Lumpur was one of the concurrent events held in conjunction with the PIECE 2010 at Kuala Lumpur Hilton, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The 9th HORA meeting was hosted by Malaysia and jointly organised by the Public Works Department, Malaysia and Road Engineering Association Malaysia with the support of the Ministry of Public Works, Malaysia.
The Secretariat has sent an invitation letter dated on 20th December 2010 signed by the President, Dato’ Sri Ir. Dr.Judin Abdul Karim, to HORA members inviting to attend the 9th Heads of Road Authorities (HORA). The follow-up letter in early January by Hon. Secretary General Dato’ Ir.Haji Hamizan Mohd Inzan sent to all members with more updated information on the HORA meeting.
The topic ‘Road-Safety: Make it Happen’ is the main issue discussed at the 9th HORA Meeting. The abstract and agenda has been circulated to HORA delegates in advance in order that delegates can prepare their contributions to the meeting.
The two keynote presentations from Japan and Malaysia presented at the first part of the meeting. The leading delegates from each country were given an opportunity to comment about their experiences. They are Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan,Thailand and the Philippines. Forty – seven delegates from 11 countries attended the 9th HORA meeting in Malaysia. Heads of Road Authorities and REAAA Council members were among the HORA delegates.
The distinguished guests were Vice Minister of Public Works Department, Indonesia DR. A.Hermanto Dardak and Undersecretary of Public Works and Highway Department, Philippines, Mr. Rasuman D. Bashir.
47 delegates from 11 countries attended the 9th HORA meeting in Kuala Lumpur. Heads of road authorities and REAAA Council members were among the HORA delegates. The 11 countries are: Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore Taiwan and Thailand
The President, Dato’ Sri Ir. Dr. Judin Abdul Karim who chaired the session, extended a very warm welcome to all the distinguished guests and HORA delegates in his opening remarks. He was happy to note that Heads of Road Authorities and more than forty-seven delegates from 11 countries across Asia, Australasia and the Pacific Region attended the 9th meeting of HORA. He expressed his appreciation for the strenuous efforts of the REAAA and members. He hoped that the HORA meeting will make a considerable contribution to enable many countries to experience mutual growth and to form a cooperative atmosphere beyond the road sector. He attributed the success of this HORA meeting to the strong support given by the heads of road authorities in this region.
In addition, the President also proposed to involve the participation of Ministers and Ministry of Public Works in member countries to further enhance the present HORA meetings. The Council Members shall be given the responsibility to recommend and convince the Ministry of Public Works in their respective country about this proposal. He foresaw that the involvement of the ministry in the HORA meetings will facilitate collaboration and cooperation on the road engineering, especially to assist and identify activities or projects.
The topic ‘Road-Safety: Make it Happen’ was the main issue discussed at the 9th HORA Meeting with Prof. Dr. Ahmad Farhan Mohd Sadullah (Director General of Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS)) invited to chair this topic. Prof. Dr. Ahmad Farhan explained about the mandate of the United Nations Resolution on the Decade of Action for Road Safety. The UN resolution established on 2nd March 2010 at the 64th General Assembly has proclaimed the period 2011-2020 as the Decade of Action for Road Safety with a goal to stabilize and then reduce the forecast level of road traffic fatalities around the world by increasing activities conducted at the national, regional and global levels. The two keynote presentations from Japan and Malaysia were presented during the first part of the meeting with the leading delegate from each country given an opportunity to comment about their experiences.
HORA Workshop on Compendium of ‘Road Safety –Make it Happen”.
A HORA Workshop on Compendium of ‘Road Safety –Make it Happen” was held in conjunction with the 92nd REAAA Council meeting. The workshop was chaired by Prof. Dr. Ahmad Farhan, Director of MIROS. An advisory Panel headed by the Malaysian Road Safety Department (MIROS) with a role to look into all aspects on the “Road safety-make it happen” is to be set-up. The advisory Panel was proposed during the 9th Meeting of Heads of Road Authorities, HORA, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 5th April 2010.The matter was raised and discussed at the HORA meeting when Prof. Dr. Ahmad Farhan presented his paper entitled “Road Safety-Make It Happen”. Following this, REAAA at its’ Council meeting in Singapore on 11th November 2010 deliberated in this issue. The Council recommended that discussions be held to look into the role of the panel, formulate guidelines, policies and practices.
Dr. Jamilah as the Coordinator of the Compendium presented the report at the HORA Workshop.Overall, the HORA Workshop was successful in achieving its objectives to provide a forum for all involved on Road Safety Make It Happen from in and beyond the region.In addition the workshop created a platform to share knowledge and experiences, and to establish professional networking.The key element of the workshop was the presentation sessions where members had the opportunity to present the project and experiences gained from the application of research findings and implementation of road engineering facilities.
