The Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) has distributed about 13,500 face masks to fishermen and fishmongers operating at the Albert Bosomtwi-Sam Fishing harbour in Sekondi.
The initiative is to help protect community members from the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
The Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), Anthony K. K. Sam, explained that the assembly wanted to ensure that the Covid-19 preventive protocols were observed at all times.
He told the people that the STMA was supporting government’s efforts to help halt the spread of the virus, hence the distribution of the masks.
“We are here to hand over the masks to the leaders of the landing beach committee for onward distribution to the fishermen here and everybody who comes to the fishing harbour,” he stressed.
He said it was compulsory for everyone to wear the masks “so that we can fight this battle together, because the sickness spreads easily when one speaks or sneezes.”
“We are sharing the masks across all the beaches of Sekondi-Takoradi so that before anybody comes to any of the beaches, he or she has to wear a face mask,” he noted.
He admonished the fishermen to ensure that they washed and ironed the masks after using them.
Samuel Addotey, the Landing Beach Committee chairman at the harbour, was worried that most of the people who visited the fishing harbour did not wear masks.
He, therefore, suggested that the Ghana Port and Harbours Authority (GPHA) should insist that anyone without a face mask would not be allowed to enter the harbour.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Sekondi