March 24

WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
06
DAILY HERITAGE TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2020
Editorial
Traders’ obedience good for national progress
YESTERDAY WOULD remain
one of the most memorable
days associated with the
presence of the coronavirus,
otherwise known as Covid-19,
in the country, especially the
nation’s capital, for positive
reasons.
Traders’ adherence to directives
to close their shops and
quit their spaces in the various
markets in the city was overwhelming.
Ghanaians are recalcitrant
about such
instructions on occasions like
clean-up exercises and holidays.
The reason for yesterday’s
obedience to official instruction
is not far-fetched though
but it carries some lessons for
the whole nation.
The DAILY HER-
ITAGE can say that obedience
was massive because of
the fear of the deadly coronavirus,
which means that if officialdom
can take time to
educate the public to see what
threatens their existence,
rights, freedoms, comfort,
wellbeing and the like and
help them to understand and
accept them many misdeeds
would cease in society.
It is also instructive to note
that if we can make the
Ghanaian public to appreciate
the fact that what threaten
some people can evolve to be
our problem too, at least majority
of the masses can adopt
positive attitudes towards
every situation, however insignificant
it may appear to
others.
Yesterday’s obedience also
re-echoed the fact that “prevention
is better than cure”,
so the city authorities should
couch a strategy out of that to
reinforce efforts to make
Accra clean, even if not the
cleanest city in Africa because
the vision appears a mirage
currently, looking at the level
of filth in Accra.
In spite of the overwhelming
obedience, there were a
few, in fact a negligible number
of, young traders who
wanted to disobey instructions
but personnel of the security
services were on hand
to rein in such recalcitrant
traders hovering around various
shops soliciting customers.
This also teaches a lesson
that law enforcement is prime
in the prevention of everything
that undermines the
progress of society — crime,
diseases, corruption, civil disobedience,
etc. etc. If so, then
we should see yesterday’s obedience
from the trading community
in Accra and
elsewhere as a leverage for national
progress.
Local Govt Ministry, Zoomlion
disinfest 137 markets
• In Greater Accra Region
BY PHILIP ANTOH
philip.antoh@dailyheritage.com.gh
THE MINISTRY of Local Government
and Rural Development
(MLGRD), together with the various
assemblies in the Greater Accra
Region, and in partnership with
Zoomlion, has embarked on a disinfestation exercise
in 137 markets the across region.
The exercise was in line with the directives by
the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-
Addo, to control the spread of Covid-19, which
is wreaking havoc globally.
Although the exercise had few hitches here
and there like starting late, some market women
agitating, and many others, the heavy presence
of the military and the police made it successful.
“We can say that almost everybody has
obeyed the instruction of the city authorities
and the President in general,” one of the officials
stated.
A senior official at the MLGRD, Mr
Jonathan Aboagye, has stated that the closure of
markets in Accra and the disinfestation exercise
by various municipal assemblies to contain the
spread of Covid-19 should present an opportunity
to city authorities to achieve the ‘Clean
Ghana’ agenda.
According to Mr Aboagye, one of the sure
ways of achieving this is to make the surroundings
clean and with the old adage ‘cleanliness is
next to godliness,’ it behoves the citizenry to
adopt the attitude of cleanliness.
He said about two thirds of Ghanaians are
Godly “so if we say cleanliness is next to godliness,
then it means we are not Godly so there is
the need for all of us to try as much as possible
to keep the city clean.”
“So if I eat and I don’t throw the left-overs
away on the street but into designated dustbins
within the city, definitely we are not going to get
filth in our country. If we go to other countries
and we find out their countries look very neat, it
is not only the city authorities there but everyone
in the country.
“One thing that we must do as Ghanaians is
that it is about time we started making sure that
the filth which we are going to collect is paid
for.”
The well-attended
disinfection exercise
by officials of Zoomlion,
the various assemblies
and Local
Government Ministry
was part of the Presidents
directives to
control the spread of
Covid-19.
The exercise
squad was divided
into various groups
based on the various
assemblies and chlorine,
a disinfectant
chemical, was mixed
with water and
sprayed with Solo
spraying machine in
all the markets.
Speaking to the
DAILY HERITAGE, a Local Government
Representative at Ayawaso Central Municipal
Assembly, Mr Baba Seidu, said the exercise was
in line with the President’s initiative of disinfecting
all marketplaces to control the spread of
coronavirus.
Mr Seidu said the exercise was done in part-
•Mallam Atta Market
being disinfected
ner-
ship with Zoomlion Ghana Limited.
The tour took journalists, officials of Zoomlion,
Local Government Ministry and various
workers of the various assemblies to Tip-toe
Lanes, Mallam Atta Markets, then to Nima
through to Mamobi and finally to the Kaneshie
market.