Some officials inspecting the markets
ALL MARKETS in Kumasi and nearby areas in the Ashanti Region were thoroughly disinfected during a massive spraying exercise yesterday as part of measures to fight the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and also help to improve hygiene in the markets.
The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development collaborated with the various metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) in the Ashanti Region to help implement the exercise.
The disinfection exercise, which has never been witnessed in the Ashanti Region before, was led by personnel of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, a leading sanitation company in the country, and all major markets in Kumasi were sanitized.
The spraying exercise, which kick-started as early as 6 am, saw every part of the spacious markets in the city being sprayed with chemicals, especially chlorine solution which has the potency to kill germs of different forms.
It took place in markets such as the Kumasi Central Market, Asafo Market, Bantama Market, Moshie Zongo Market, Nana Afia Kobi (Abinkyi) Market, Santasi Market, Tafo Market, among others.
Top government officials, including Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Collins Ntim; Chief Executive of Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, Osei Assibey-Antwi, and officials from NADMO, supervised the exercise.
The National Youth Organizer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Lawyer Henry Nana Boakye, aka ‘Nana B’, also trekked from Accra to Kumasi to rally support for the historic exercise.
Mayor Grateful
Kumasi Mayor Osei Assibey-Antwi said President Akufo-Addo’s directive to clean all markets and other public places in the wake of the COVID-19 was going according to plan in the city.
According to him, the government last week presented different items to the 43 MMDAs in the Ashanti Region, including face masks, hand sanitizers and others to protect the people from COVID-19 before starting the disinfection exercise. “We thank President Akufo-Addo for his able leadership. We are determined to clean the cities to ensure that people continue to be safe,” he added.
The mayor said the disinfection exercise went on smoothly, as markets in the city and the region in general were disinfected thoroughly to get rid of germs, rodents and insects.
According to him, every corner of the Kumasi Central Market and the Kejetia Market was disinfected, adding that the entire Central Business District (CBD) of the city was also disinfected to boost hygiene in the city.
The Kumasi mayor commended residents of Kumasi, especially shop owners at Adum and commercial drivers, for their high level of compliance and also appreciating government’s efforts to disinfect the markets.
“All the shops at Adum were closed by the shop owners to help make the exercise successful and we are grateful to them for their support. We are appealing for the exercise to be replicated in schools and the prisons,” he stressed.
Ghost Town
Kumasi was virtually a ghost town yesterday and the boisterous activities that the garden city is noted for were conspicuously missing on the day.
Government was disinfecting the markets in the city and beyond as part of efforts to combat the COVID-19 outbreak and also to make such public places more hygienic.
Shops Closed
The markets were targeted for the exercise but surprisingly private shop owners joined and did not open their shops for business.
The always-busy Adum and the CBD areas were looked empty, with all the shops closed, whilst shops in other busy areas like Krofrom and Bantama were also closed.
Self-Quarantine
Interestingly, residents of the busy city were also hiding indoors as if they had been ordered to do so and only the teams doing the disinfections and other Zoomlion workers were on the streets.
FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi