Who is Victor Ako Mengot?
Contributed  Victor Ako Mengot (pictured) is a Sierra Leonean resident in the United Kingdom with over 35 years of experience in the Transport and Logistics Industry. He started his transport career as an Air Traffic Control Assistant at Lungi International Airport in 1977 before proceeding to the United Kingdom for further studies in 1980. Mr. Mengot holds a Master of Science degree in Urban Planning from London Southbank University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Traffic Engineering and Planning from  Middlesex University in the UK. This is in addition to professional qualifications from the Chartered Institute of Marketing; Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation; and the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. His international career started at the London Boroughs of Ealing and Croydon where he worked as a Traffic Engineer/Urban Planner culminating in an appointment as a Transport Specialist for the House of Commons Transport Select Committee (1993  1997). This was followed by an international consultancy career for the World Bank, UK Department for International Development  (DfID), the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA); the Africa Union and the Economic Commission for West African States (ECOWAS). He has successfully undertaken transport and related road safety project in Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, Liberia and Kenya. He also engaged as a Traffic Law/Safety Expert for the European Union in Northern Cyprus in addition to serving as the Technical Advisor for the Campaign for Safer Roads in Sierra Leon www.roadsafesalone.com ; and providing technical advice to the ECOWAS Community on Joint Border Post Management including safety, security and trade facilitation. Current Assignment  Institutional Development Expert  Sierra Leone Integrated Resilient Urban Mobility Project. A World Bank-financed Initiative that involves the following interventions:   Establish a Sierra Leone Public Transport Authority (SLPTA) that will replace the Sierra Leone Road Transport Corporation through legislation. This means that government will no longer be operating buses but will act as a regulator that will set standards of operation; define routes where private sector operators will provide services for passengers in a safe and orderly manner; and set new standards for the vehicles that will be operating on these routes   Construct facilities such as passenger terminals; bus depots and facilitate maintenance workshops to be operated by the private sector to enhance the safety and sustainability of modern buses that will be economical and safe for both operators and passengers   Improve traffic management system through improvement in the road infrastructure including traffic signalisation for the safe and expeditious flow of traffic with defined bus stops and safe stopping areas for buses