Accra, April 23, GNA – The Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture and the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) Thursday donated Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other items to the Ghana Tourism Federation in Accra.
The items include 2,000 Veronica buckets and bowls, 24 boxes of sanitizers, 10,000 gloves, 32 boxes of liquid soap, 160 pieces of tissue paper, and 80 boxes of nose masks.
The beneficiary institutions are the Ghana Traditional Caterers Association, the Ghana Drinking Bar Association, and the Indigenous Caterers Association.
Mrs Barbara Oteng Gyasi, the Minister of Tourism, said the safety equipment were to be used in their facilities to protect themselves and the public as they went about their activities.
She said the Ministry recognised them as significant players in the industry as they served as frontline service providers for tourists and that government was working very hard to support the sector due to its contribution to the economy.
“The initial support which has come in from government that is the GHc600 million support has been dedicated to the SME sector because they recognize that you are really suffering and you need that support to survive,” she said.
Mrs Oteng Gyasi hinted that the Ministry would, from Friday, April 24, engage the National Board for Small Scale Industries to take members of the associations through the processes needed to access the financial facility to gain some interim support during these difficult times.
“We need to all come on board to support the Government in protecting everybody and come out of this pandemic as soon as possible so that we can return to normalcy and businesses would grow ….to support the economy while protecting the jobs of the ordinary people,” she said.
Madam Evelyn Sasu Tay, President of GTCA receiving the equipment on behalf of the various associations expressed appreciation to the Minister and the GTA for the donation.
She said they would be distributed immediately to ensure that they were used for the intended purposes, and pledged their support to the Ministry and the GTA at all times.
Meanwhile Madam Stella Apenteng, Managing Director, APSTAR Tours, on behalf of a committee set up by the GTA to identify issues impacting on the various businesses in the informal sector in the tourism value chain, also presented the Committee’s report to the Minister.
The sector Minister expressed appreciation to the various associations for supporting the GTA to look at the issues impacting their various businesses.
Mrs Oteng Gyasi said tourism generally had been impacted by the COVID-19 since people could not travel and the locals were encouraged to stay at home hence could not patronise tourism facilities as they used to.
GNA