The Agortime Ziope District Assembly in the Volta Region has suspended commercial motorbike operations, popularly known as okada, in the area as it intensifies educational activities on preventive measures that would protect the people from contracting the deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19).
The Assembly has also tightened border patrol activities and instituted a blockade by a combined team of immigration, police and civilians to prevent unlawful entry into the country through the District, since the country’s borders have been closed.
The Assembly had noticed with concern the transportation of people from the area to the Republic of Togo, and from Togo to the District, resulting in the decision to suspend okada operations.
Addressing the media on efforts being made by the Assembly to prevent people from being infected by the Coronavirus, the Agortime-Ziope District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr. John Kwaku Amenyah, said the Assembly provided over 2,000 nose masks, 14,000 pairs of gloves, sanitisers, and thermometer guns to health centers and border posts in the district.
The Agortime-Ziope DCE continued that Veronica buckets, and accompanying accessories, hand washing liquid soaps, sanitisers, tissue paper rolls, dustbins and poly tanks have been provided for the Kpetoe and Ziope markets to promote regular hand washing in the markets introduced by the Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC) is being enforced.
Mr. Amenyah disclosed that an orientation workshop for health workers to equip them psychologically and professionally so as to boost their confidence level in the fight against COVID-19, with a simulation exercise which had started at the district capital, Kpetoe, where staff at the health center were benefitting from the workshop, which would be extended to the Ziope Health Center.
The Agortime Ziope DCE said: “What we need, as a District, in this period of emergency, is cooperation and not division, ideas and not statements that would put fear in our people, but rather relevant information to the public and not falsehood,” he advised.
Mr. Amenyah said it was very unfortunate that political opponents in the district were trying to capitalise on the unfortunate situation facing the country and the district to engage in what he described as pedestrian politics, at the time efforts were being made to save the lives of the people.
He commended the people in the area for not taking what he called immature political talks seriously, but continued to adhere to directives from health professionals that would make them safe from the global pandemic, saying the Coronavirus was not produced by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, neither was it brought into the country by any political party in Ghana, so it did not have a political boundary as to who belongs to which political party to be infected and to leave which political party member out.
By Samuel Agbewode, Kpetoe / www.thechronicle.com.gh
The post Agortime-Ziope Assembly suspends ‘okada’ operations to control COVID-19 spread appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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