Officials of government and Ghanaians in general have been advised to be circumspect in their utterances when communicating their concerns on the outbreak of COVID 19 in the country so as not to dampen the already sluggish business environment in the country. This is because of the feared consequences which could be very terrible.
Secretary General of the Ghana Union of Traders Associations (GUTA), Alpha Shaban, told Businessweekghana in an interview that the business environment has not been very favorable to their members ever since the first outbreak of COVID 19 strain was announced in their main trading hub in China last year.
He has therefore cautioned against any aggravation of the situation for their members and the wider public by creating fear and panic among members of the public against patronizing their goods.
The GUTA executive was reacting to a communication rife on social media which has been cautioning against the patronage of used clothing by the public because of the obvious concern of its possible contamination with the Coronavirus since most of these used clothing come from Europe where more cases have been confirmed apart from China.
The communication has even recommended for government to consider placing a ban on the importation of used clothing from these affected areas as a temporary measure or for the long term so that the people will not become the residual receivers of the virus after the epic season.
According to Mr. Alpha Shaban, such communications can only poison the business atmosphere and further worsen the plight of their members and the economic situation of Ghanaians in general because there is no empirical evidence to suggest that there are any impeding or future dangers from the patronage of these used clothing.
“In the first place, is Africa sufficient? Two; our members go in to buy these things long before the outbreak of the Coronavirus, they are disinfected before they are even packed. So these are just speculations and the banning of the goods cannot be the solution because they are even going to impose hardship on the people.
“Look at even the economic situation in the country and then how many people can afford to buy clothes and even food. So you see, that is not the solution. Anytime we have to import it is fumigated before it is even packed and brought. So I beg to differ,” he said.
According to the Secretary General of the Trading Associations, any attempt to restrict the importation of the used clothing into the country would be dire.
“It will not only impose hardship on our members but the entire Ghanaian community. Even in this country, we are here and you go to ‘Kantamanto’, sometimes you find these white people coming from their countries to come and do some selections here. So what are we talking about?
“So let’s come together as stakeholders, brainstorm and find the way forward. But not for somebody to sit in his office and think that he can impose anything that will in turn create problems for everybody. That is the problem of Africa,” he lamented.
Source: Clement Akoloh || businessweekghana.com