Collins Ntim (far right) with Simon Osei Mensah and Patricia Appiagyei, inspecting the items
GOVERNMENT HAS announced plans to extend the disinfection exercise of markets, which started in Accra on Monday, to other 15 regions in the country.
The Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Collins Ntim, said yesterday that other markets in the country would also benefit from the exercise.
The fumigation exercise forms part of government’s plans to help prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which is claiming scores of human lives globally.
Speaking at a public function in Kumasi yesterday, Mr. Ntim said, “The disinfection exercise of the markets will as well help avert the spread of Malaria.”
The occasion was when he presented several items to the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) to help prevent the spread of the virus in the Ashanti Region.
The items were 4,500 pieces of Veronica buckets and their metal stands, 4,500 boxes of soap, 4,500 boxes of hand sanitizers, 45,000 boxes of face masks, among others.
Collins Ntim, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Offinso North, said the items would be distributed evenly to the 43 metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) in the region.
On behalf of his sector minister, Hajia Alima Mahama, he lauded the media for playing key roles in spreading messages and creating awareness about the deadly virus.
The deputy minister stated that the fight against the COVID-19 had just begun; therefore, he was expecting the media to sustain its splendid work.
The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah, who received the items, said the positive gesture was an indication that government cared dearly about Ghanaians.
He gave an assurance that the items would be distributed to the various MMDAs in the region for onward distribution to lorry parks, markets and other vantage points in their areas.
Patricia Appiagyei, the MP for Asokwa, on her part, sternly warned cigarette smokers to quit, observing that most of the casualties of the virus had been found to be smokers.
FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi