President of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Dr. Joseph Obeng, has bemoaned the growing number of COVID-19 positive cases.
Recounting the previous years’ restrictions impact on business as a whole, he advised the trading community to adhere to safety protocol to forestall a preemptive imposition of restriction in the country.
According to him, his plea for compliance to safety guidelines has become imperative as a result of another spike in the number of cases recorded in Ghana.
“Coming from the year 2020, it has been a very challenging year for us; so frustrating. Most of us have lost our capital because of the first outbreak of the pandemic where we went under lockdown. Businesses came to a complete halt at a point, and then when we came through, we had elections and just when we are about to settle and take off this year to recoup some of our losses, then there is a new upsurge of the COVID-19 cases which is very worrying to the business community. In fact, we don’t know the way forward”.
Dr. Obeng further called on authorities to adopt strategies to mitigate these concerns, especially in market places.
“We will plead that we all follow the protocols. I will appeal to our trading community because the way we do trading in the open market where we do not follow the protocols, it will work seriously against us. That’s why I’m calling on the Ministry of Health and the government itself to sit down with the trade leaders to find a way because that is where the problem is”.
Wading in on the adherence to COVID protocols, the Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Seth Twum-Akwaboah, had earlier called on SMEs to intensify sensitization amongst their employees and customers on the COVID-19 safety protocols.
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”.
