Madam Dorcas Afo-Toffey, Member of Parliament (MP) for Jomoro Constituency has called on the Government to open land borders to ease the suffering of businesses and communities in the border towns of Elubo, Elenda Wharf, Newtown, and Jaway Wharf.
She noted that her constituents were currently going through difficulties such as loss of capital, loss of livelihoods, decreased social cohesion, increased theft cases, emigration and hunger among others.
Madam Afo-Toffey who made the call on the floor of Parliament today, Wednesday 24th March 2021 observed that there was an urgent need to reopen and regularize land border crossing at key entry points in the Jomoro Constituency such as Elubo, Jaway wharf, Newtown, Ellenda wharf and other border towns in Ghana.
She noted that the Kotoka International Airport which accommodates comparatively huge traffic was in operation due to certain measures put in place to check entrants into the country with respect to COVID-19.
She recalled that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has it on their website that an average number of 98,000 people enter Ghana through Kotoka International Airport every month since the COVID-19 period which are extremely bigger than the 4000 people who entered Ghana through the Ivory Coast border per month before COVID-19.
According to her, all the measures put in place at the Kotoka International Airport could be replicated at the borders except that, we can employ a competitive antigen testing entity whose pricing will be commensurate with current international market price unlike the exorbitant antigen testing regime at the Kotoka International Airport.
“I say this by taking into consideration the fewer entrants per month of persons using the land borders for trade and other businesses in comparison to the volumes of persons using the Kotoka International Airport per available statistics,” she contended.
Madam Afo-Toffey, therefore, called on the Government to as a matter of urgency open up the borders whilst stepping up adequate surveillance and effective monitoring of the same.
She noted that these measures, if adhered to and instituted at the borders will not only help in reviving the dwindling socio-economic activities in Ghana, especially Jomoro, but will also help in the fight against the virus.
“It will also further boost our Pan-African credentials as the champions of the ECOWAS protocols on the free movement of persons and goods which is cardinal to our integration agenda,” she said.
Story: News Desk
