Mali road safety exhibition highlights perils of motorbike culture
|
Version 0 of 1. Like most motorcyclists in Bamako, Drissa Konaté does not wear a helmet. "It is complicated because I have dreadlocks," the 32-year-old Rastafarian explains. But no one in Mali's style-conscious capital has ever expected him to wear one. Despite his aversion to helmets, Konaté, a caricaturist, is well aware of the risks of using his motorbike in the city, and he's doing what he can to spread the word among his fellow riders. The artist's latest exhibition, a series on road safety called Jakarta Ko, ran at the Institut Français in Bamako for three weeks in November and December; he hopes it might be taken to France in 2014. The exhibition takes its name from the local term – <em>Jakarta</em> – for a KTM motorbike that is made under licence in China. It's not clear why the bike is known by the name of Indonesia's capital. Some people say the word is a corruption of <em>laharata</em>, which means "on a path to death" in Bambara, Mali's lingua franca. Container-loads of fuel-efficient Jakartas, priced at just 350,000 CFA francs (£440) each, started to arrive in the country around 2009. Previously established brands such as Honda and Yamaha almost vanished from the roads. For a population estimated at 2.5 million, there are said to be at least 500,000 Jakartas in Bamako. "Every family has one. You see father, mother and daughter dress up to go for a ride together," says Konaté. "Initially the authorities campaigned for us to [get] licences, but they gave up … helmets are supposed to be the law but everyone – including the police – just ignores that." The bikes are often used as family vehicles, carrying three people at a time, and to transport all manner of goods, including live goats and sheep. Tides of them sweep through Bamako in rush hour, seriously hampering pedestrians' ability to cross the street. Self-taught Konaté, who started out as a graffiti artist, has made road safety something of a speciality. Last year, he created an exhibition about <em>sotramas</em>, the overcrowded green minibus taxis that ply the main roads of Bamako. He has expanded on that story for this year's edition. "Tonton Bala, the sotrama driver, has now made so much money that he has bought a Jakarta for his 12-year-old son, Papou," Konaté says. Papou refuses to wear a helmet, preferring his red baseball cap. In the 20 acrylic-on-canvas scenes in Jakarta Ko, he does a wheelie at a Bamako wedding and outpaces two grumpy police officers. But he comes a cropper when he hits one of the city's yellow taxis and lands on a fruit and vegetable stall. Bala takes him to hospital and convinces him to use the helmet. In the final canvases, Papou has a collision with a pretty girl on another bike but walks away without a scratch. Konaté says the work has had an enthusiastic response. "I obviously cannot prove that the exhibition is going to change bad habits," Konaté says. "But I certainly think it is worthwhile trying to make people laugh to get a message across." He believes there are two reasons why Bamakois are so reckless on their Jakartas. "One is the corrupt behaviour of the police," he says. "They so abuse … their uniformed powers that no one wants to obey any laws. The other problem is that we all believe in God so much. We say a prayer before getting on the bike and believe that will keep us safe." The national director of the transport ministry, Sidy Kanouté, is despairing. "Sixty per cent of those killed on our roads are under 25 years old. These Chinese bikes are a real problem. There are now more than twice as many motorbikes as cars on our roads." He claims the ministry has tried several approaches. "A few years ago we reduced the cost of the motorbike licence from 10,000 to 4,000 CFA francs (£13 to £5), but we could not keep up with demand as there were not enough driving schools. We do not enforce the helmet rule because motorcyclists are often young men and we do not want public order issues. "The priority is education," Kanouté adds. "We need to move people away from the mentality whereby they would rather pay a 1,000 franc (£1.25) bribe to a police officer for their defective brakes than get them fixed, even though they know they might have an accident 1km down the road." Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |