The Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Seth Twum-Akwaboah, has called on SMEs to intensify sensitization amongst their employees and customers on the COVID-19 safety protocols.
Compliance to this directive, he believes, will consolidate efforts by government to curb the spread of the virus in the country.
Speaking in an interview, Mr. Twum-Akwaboah explained further that, on all levels in an organization, there should be proper systems and structure in place to ensure compliance by employees.
“I think before I even go to what the government should do, at all levels we should all take some responsibilities. At the individual level, at the company level, at the institutional level and then the government. Because the thing is, no matter the measures government puts in place if people are recalcitrant, if people are not abiding by the rules, if they are not going by the protocols, it will not work. So, we all need to be disciplined in the way we manage this.
“At the company level, you know most of the companies; some of them are multinationals, some of them have their own internal policies, and they have even stricter policies than what the government is prescribing. So, I know at those levels things are relatively well-structured. At the SME level we want them to also improve their systems and structures to ensure that their employees go by the protocols. We want to be sure that companies are also educating their staff and their customers about all these protocols that we need to go by”.
Seth Twum-Alkwaboah
Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Employer’s Association, Mr. Alex Frimpong, has expressed concern over the hikes in COVID-19 positive cases and its direct impact on businesses.
Highlighting the previous year’s impact of the pandemic on businesses, Mr. Frimpong said the resurgence will be ominous for them as “many businesses are yet to fully recover”.
Mr. Frimpong explains this will generate anxiety as “even the stimulus package that were put in place to help businesses to be able to recover” was disproportionate to the number of businesses who needed it and was not “enough to help them overcome the financial burden”.
“So, to be saddled with another one is cause for concern and we have a responsibility to ensure that, the members adhere totally to the various protocols that have been put in place- so that we are able to minimize the impact on businesses”.
Elsewhere, the General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association Dr. Yankson revealed that even with the adherence to safety guidelines to avert one contracting the virus, negligence in the basic handling of face mask could result in an individual contracting the virus.
Dr. Yankson also noted that most people took advantage of the laxity in enforcement of protocols resulting in the high contraction level.
“I wouldn’t say these things are not working. They’ve all been proven to provide some protection or prevention; except that whatever prevention mode each of them gives is not 100%.
“For those who have done their part and in the process have also tested positive, this may be some of the reasons why that situation [occurred]. It is not only the mask; we talk about physical distancing; but to what extent are people really observing this?”
