Minister of Communication, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful
By Mudasiru Abdul Yakeen, Koforidua
The Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has asked Ghanaians to put a halt to panic buying, in anticipation of a potential lockdown of the country. According to Mrs Owusu-Ekuful, the panic buying is what is leading to the astronomical increase in the prices of goods and services.
She added that panic buying in bulk is also leading to abrupt shortage of goods on the market.
She has therefore pleaded with the public to desist from the rush in buying goods for hoarding, explaining that the repercussions of such actions may be more severe than the novel coronavirus disease.
Mrs Owusu-Ekuful was speaking in Koforidua yesterday during an exercise to sensitise market women on the precautionary measures to take in the midst of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unreasonable price increment
She admonished the market women to also desist from the unreasonable increases in the prices of essential products such as hand sanitizers and soaps in these trying times. She noted that the practice puts the whole country at risk since people who cannot afford the high priced goods will only wait to get infested and in turn spread the disease among others.
“The problem is if you shoot the price of these commodities up and the public are not able to afford them, the virus will still be circulating with us and in the process of trying to be wise or greedy, you will end up affecting yourself with the virus because your neighbour couldn’t afford to buy disinfectants that will keep them clean,” Mrs Owusu-Ekuful said.
She advised the market women to also prevent their customers from touching the products they sell before buying them.
“If we allow our customers to touch all our goods before they buy one out of them, it is a very effective way of spreading the disease. Therefore, I entreat all of us to be very cautious, especially fish sellers who allow their customers to lick the mouth of the fish before buying them; they should be very careful,” the Minister stressed.
Market fumigation
Also speaking at the event, a Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Kwasi Boateng Adjei, disclosed that all market centres in Koforidua will soon be closed for fumigation works as part of the national disinfection exercise.
Mr Boateng Adjei, who is also the MP for New Juabeng North, said the exact date for the fumigation exercise will be discussed with the market women so that they can adjust themselves and also stay away from the market environment when the time is due.
He urged them to keep the markets clean after the disinfection exercise is over.
He presented hand sanitizers, liquid soaps, tissues, Veronica buckets and stand, among others, to the market women. He also presented some to the Regional Coordinating Council for distribution to the 33 districts in the region.
Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Boateng Adjei, at the sensitisation grounds
