Assin Fosu (C/R), April 22, GNA – Traders in Assin Central Municipality of the Central Region have hailed the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s decision to lift the partial lockdown in parts of the country.
President Akufo-Addo on Sunday lifted the three-week partial lockdown in Greater Accra including Kasoa and Greater Kumasi and its contagious areas.
He said during a televised address to the nation that the three weeks lockdown had achieved its modest objectives, among which was the need to scale up tracing and testing of contacts of people who had tested positive.
Excited by the President’s directive, the traders described the move as the best way to sustain their businesses and reduce the drain on their savings which was gradually impoverishing their livelihoods.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, the traders urged the Government not to bow to pressure from a cross-section of the public to take decisions that will erode gains made in the fight against Covid-19 but go all out to protect and safeguard public health and safety.
They however, stressed the urgent need for government to sustainably adopt more proactive and innovative measures that will effectively guarantee the safety of all.
Madam Matilda Mensah, a vegetable seller, said even though Fosu was not part of the areas locked, sales dipped over the period of the lockdown because workers from Accra and Kumasi working in the Area were all held up. But business had picked up slowly after the ease of the lockdown.
She said she also run out of stock of supply of certain vegetables due to her inability to get regular supply from Accra or Kumasi.
Mr Kofi Asempa, a 34-year-old dealer in used clothing, said the lifting of the lockdown would afford him the opportunity to get regular supply from Accra to make ends-meet.
At the main lorry stations, authorities were elated at the directive and had put measures in place to ensure that all passengers and drivers put on nose masks and observe all necessary precautionary measures.
Some passengers who were travelling to parts of the country reiterated the need for all to adhere to all personal hygiene measures like washing of hands under running water with soap and use of sanitisers.
Other people described the directive as timely for economic, social and political reasons.
They also stressed the need for intensified public education on the implication of the lifting of restriction on movements, whilst security personnel remained vigilant at post.
GNA