C/R GPRTU members schooled on Ebola and Cholera

Mr Paul Nutsugah, Deputy Central Regional Environmental Health and Sanitation Officer has called on drivers and members of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) in the Region to improve upon their personal hygiene.

He also urged them to keep their vehicles clean to prevent the infection and spread of Cholera and the Ebola disease.

He said records showed that most cholera victims were either transported in taxis or commercial vehicles to health facilities, and that, in most cases such vehicles were not disinfected after discharging the patients, and they go ahead to carry other passengers and in some cases food.

Mr Nutsugah made the call during a forum organized by the Central Regional GPRTU, where they interacted with the Central Regional Minister Mr Thomas Aquinas Tawiah, in Cape Coast on Tuesday.

He said investigations conducted on the spread of the cholera disease in the region had revealed that commercial vehicles were the conduit for the spread of the disease since most people used them instead of the ambulance.

Mr Nutsugah educated them on the causes of the disease and advised them to always endeavour to disinfect their vehicles anytime they picked someone suspected of being infected with the disease and urged them to be mindful of the kind of food they ate.

Mr Charles Eshun, Regional Disease Control Officer, said though the country has not recorded any Ebola case it was imperative for all to be cautious and put in place adequate measures to curb the disease in case it surfaces in the country.

He asked them to report anyone who has recently returned to the country from any of the West African countries that had recorded the outbreak of the disease for the necessary action to be taken, adding that, six suspected cases reported in the region have all proved negative.

Mr Kwame Kumah, Regional Chairman of the GPRTU commended the regional Minister for making time to interact with them and pledged their support to the government.

Touching on the ban of commercial vehicles without seat belts, he appealed to the government to assist the union to acquire vehicles that have seat belts, stressing that, it was difficult for them to meet the current demands, noting that, if care was not taken, many drivers would soon be jobless.

According to him, currently there was no factory manufacturing seat belts in the country that would match the vehicles they were using, making it difficult for them to comply with the new law on seat belts.

Mr Tawiah assured them that their concerns would be taken to the appropriate ministry for redress and called on them to be united and eschew the politicization of the Union, undermining, backbiting and the gossips and forge ahead with the development of the region.

The Regional Minister, appealed to the members to exercise patience and desist from embarking on strikes and demonstrations, and rather, resort to dialogue anytime they had an issue to discuss with the government.

He regretted that the Central Region, which abounds in both human and natural resources was ranked the fourth poorest region in the country and described the situation as unacceptable, saying that, everything was being done to establish a toothpick factory in the region and also revamp the Saltpond Ceramics and Citrus factories, to create more jobs in the region.

Present at the forum were the Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mrs Priscila Arhin Korankye and Mr Kingsley Osei Poku, Regional Director of Food and Drug Authority (FDA).