COVID 19- FISHING COMMUNITIES AT HIGH RISK ASSEMBLY MEMBER OF NEW TAKORADI LOWER CALLS FOR SPECIAL SUPPORT

Hon Gilbert Siaw Afriyie, Assembly Man for New Takoradi Lower Town Electoral Area has called on authorities to provide special support for fishing communities in the fight against Covid -19.

According to him the finishing communities are the most vulnerable because the fishermen who go fishing sometimes send goods to other foreign vessels who might need certain products in exchange for other essentials the local fishermen may also need and such contacts can spread the Covid-19.

Speaking to beachfmonline on the sideline of the Sekondi Takoradi Metropolitan assembly’s press briefing on the Assembly’s preparation towards the Covid-19 Pandemic, Gilbert Siaw Afriyie lamented on how devastating an outbreak of Corovirus among the fisherfolks at the New Takoradi will affect the entire community.

“When you consider New Takoradi, it is a finishing community and we have perculiar challenges with sanitation, concerning the covid -19, if there an outbreak among the fisherfolks.
it will be devastating, it will quickly spread in the community due to nature of our settlement. The reason being that the fisher folks come from all walks of life including jurisdictions which have might have recorded cases, there is barter trade at sea with other foriegn vessels and the disease could be contracted through such transaction. Sometimes the fishermen go ahead to bring on land sick colleagues from other canoes to seek proper healthcare. This and other gestures like the handshakes, the struggle among the women to buy fish at the shores and more make me believe that my community is sitting on time bomb.

He adviced stakeholders to help intentify education in the fishing communities across the country

Gilbert Siaw Afriyie also urged the community to take all the precautionary measures againt the Covid-19 serious and practice it in their household.