Coronavirus: Paul Ansah aids needy market women at Atimpoku

Technical Advisor to the Ministry of Transport and NPP Parliamentary Candidate for Asuogyaman, Paul Asare Ansah continues to help impoverished residents including market women in the district in the wake of poor sales following steps aimed at curbing the spread of the novel Coronavirus.

As of Monday, April 20, 2020, the death toll from the coronavirus had reached 9 and the number of positive cases 1042, according to data compiled by the Ghana Health Service.

As the Ghanaian government lifted the lockdown effective, Monday, April 20, 2020, the poor market women who survive on daily income will once again have some income to support basic household expenses.

With no work during the last three weeks however, they have suffered the most sitting idle at home.

The Parliamentary Candidate has been trying to ensure that the poor do not go to bed hungry amid the partial lockdown and stay at home policy.

Mr. Paul Asare Ansah presented the item including to 600 bags of 5kg rice, 600 litres of cooking oil and 600 crates of eggs to sellers of various food items at the Atimpoku market.

The recipients included abolo, fried yam, bread, one mouth thousand, fried turkey-tail sellers, fried fish, etc. expressed their appreciation to the NPP parliamentary candidate for his timely support during their difficult moments.

Mr. Paul Asare Ansah explaining the reason for the donation said the items were to provide temporal relief to the hundreds of market women who have been forced out of business as a result of the recent lockdown in Greater Accra as travelers who usually plied the Kpong-Accra-Tema-Ashaiman road who happened to be the chunk of their customers, were no longer on the road.

“These young women engage in the ‘hand-to-mouth’ means of survival and so being forced out of business means they certainly have ran out of money,” he explained.

Mr. Ansah who described the donations as the first phase of his assistance to the young women was hopeful that his assistance would provide temporal relief to the needy as they observe the stay at home policy.

He said the traders should be assisted to resuscitate their businesses after they return to their businesses and considerations would be held to that effect.

The sellers who said selling Abolo and other food items remain their only source of livelihood have thus made a passionate appeal for assistance and the former Director-General of the Ghana Ports And Harbours Authority appears to have heard their cry for help.

Market queen for Atimpoku, Mrs. Felicia Akpaglo on behalf of the traders expressed regret at the recent low sales being experienced by the traders.

She described the phenomenon as unprecedented and a serious drain on their income – affecting their investments and business expansions.

She said while some of the sellers were experiencing a massive dip in sale returns, others also prayed that the directive was reversed in no time to enable them stay in business with others complaining that their capital was locked up due to low patronage.

“We at the moment do not have anything doing. We eat and sleep. All our money is finished because we do not work anymore. Our children our also suffering because we no longer go to the market,” she said as she appealed for more support for she and the other women.

The market women have complained of low sales following the recent lockdown in Greater Accra and the stay at home policy.

The market women have similarly complained of low sales following instances of stigmatization and intimidation as fear and uncertainty follow the spread of the coronavirus across the region.

With 51 confirmed cases of the epidemic reported in the Eastern region with at least 31 from the railways construction firm, Afcons Infrastructure Limited, the sellers have complained bitterly about stigmatization from passengers as a result of the reported cases of covid19 in the area.

The traders in a prior interview said passengers in moving vehicles shoved them away when they approached them with their stuffs, reason being that their community was infected.

The stagnant sales, according to the sellers is also partly to blame on the President’s directive banning all social gatherings and the stay at home policy announced to contain the spread of the coronavirus as people preferred to stay at home.

Only a handful of sellers were seen in brisk business compared to the several huge numbers usually seen. With practically no customers to sell to, majority of the sellers have decided to be home, at least until the covid19 pandemic is over.