Partial lockdown: Fisherfolk complain of low patronage of their catch

Fisherfolks at the Jamestown are complaining of low patronage of their fish following the lockdown of parts of the country including the Greater Accra Region.

According to them, their source of livelihood is on the lamenting that they may struggle if the situation persists.

President Nana Akufo-Addo had imposed a two-week partial lockdown on Accra, Tema, Kasoa, and Kumasi from Monday, March 30, 2020.

These cities, which have been identified as the epicentres of the novel coronavirus in Ghana have been locked down as part of efforts to curb the spread of the disease.

Ghana currently has a total number of 152 recorded cases, with five deaths and two recoveries.

In an interview with Citi News, some of the fisherfolk called on the government to properly disseminate the information on the exemptions.

“We thought the lockdown would affect the fisherfolk but we were here yesterday and they came to make an announcement that, we are not part so we can go on with our fishing activities. Already, fishing is not yielding any better results for us but the little fish we get, we are not getting people to buy so they (government) should educate people that, they can come out to buy foodstuff.”

“We are also hearing that the government is helping some communities after the lockdown with food, light, and water but we are not getting anything like that here. Some of us here, if we don’t go out, our family won’t get anything to eat. Some of us don’t even have GHC50 to buy anything to depend on. We want the government to help us.”

Partial lockdown

President Nana Akufo-Addo had explained that he took the decision to lock down the coronavirus epicentres to protect the lives of Ghanaians.

“Prevailing circumstances mean that stricter measures have to be put in place to contain and halt the spread of the virus within our country, especially in Accra, Tema, Kasoa, and Kumasi, which have been identified by the Ghana Health Service as the ‘hotspots’ of the infections. In doing this, we cannot afford to copy blindly and do all the things some other well-developed countries are doing. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to this pandemic. We have a unique situation in our country, and we must take it into account in dealing with the disease, whilst meeting all the six (6) key WHO guidelines on the most effective ways of combating the pandemic. Even though it may be said that the number of our infections is still, relatively, low, if we act now purposefully, we have a chance of preventing an escalation of our numbers.”