Food suppliers quit Elegu over coronavirus

Food distributors at the Elegu border post in Amuru District have withdrawn due to the increasing COVID-19 cases.

Local leaders anticipate a rise in starvation cases and a hike in prices of food created by the scarcity.

The traders from the neighbouring districts, who have been supplying various food items say they can no longer risk their lives.

According to the LC1 of Elegu town council, Mr Hassim Akule, the lives of about 15,000 people, who resides in the area are risked.

“The increasing number of truck drivers who test positive have left us in a challenging situation. Traders have shunned their businesses because they fear contracting the disease,’’ he said.

MPs in Acholi Sub-region under their umbrella, Acholi Parliamentary Group, last week tasked government to close Elegu Border Point and quarantine all the people operating in that area for 21 days to rule out community Covid-19 cases.

However, their suggestion did not go well with the locals in the area, who accused them of being selfish.

Mr George Kitoi, a local vendor operating in Elegu main market, said they no longer get produce from within and outside the district.

“We used to get rice from Pabbo and Atiak Sub-counties and Nwoya District, but as we talk now, there are no trucks that cross here, for fear of contracting the disease.

Vice Chairperson LCII, Elegu town Council Godfrey Muhoozi, said food suppliers are fearing the place due to the high numbers of COVID-19 being reported from the place.

“We are experiencing a food crisis since suppliers are quarantined once they return to their home districts. This place is now called a dark spot of the country, no one wants to interact with us,’’ he said

One of the suppliers at Elegu, Mr Dalton Opwonya, told Daily Monitor that they decided to pull out due to the risk of acquiring Covid-19.

“My major market was Elegu but one month down the road I cannot go there. Looking at the many cases being reported there, I cannot risk my family,’’ he said.

However, LC5 chairperson Michael Lakony tasked the MPs to engage the Ministry of Health to carry out a mass test of at least 500 samples to ascertain community Covid-19 cases.

“The MPs are failing to tell the President what to do with Elegu border. At the moment it is all about truck drivers, but with the community, we cannot deny them services on assumption unless the Ministry of Health comes to the ground and advises on what next,’’ he said.

The issue of Elegu is a national concern looking at the number of cases that have been registered on a daily basis in the last week.

“ If the MPs want the locals to go under quarantine, they should prepare food for a population of more than 7,000, people in the area,’’ he said.

Amuru district has 64 people under quarantine at Pabbo Secondary School, according to the District Health Officer Dr Patrick Okello Olwedo

“By Monday ten people tested positive to COVID 19, four truck drivers and six community members. We still advised the locals on the dangers of getting into contact with the truck drivers and observe the ministry of health guidelines of social distancing and wearing a face mask,’’ she said.