COVID-19: Ketu South records more coronavirus cases in Volta region

Streets of Aflao looks very empty amid border closure 

The Ketu South Municipality in the Volta region is topping confirmed cases of the coronavirus outbreak in the Volta region with a total number of twenty one cases.

On April 12, 2020, some twenty seven travelers from the neighbouring country Nigeria, who unlawfully entered Ghana through Aflao were intercepted by the security officials and quarantined accordingly and out of which six of the them were  tested positive of Covid -19, after which seventy six persons where discovered in contact tracing.

On April 30, 2020, five new positive covid-19 cases were recorded from the seventy six contact persons, this brings to the  total number of eleven cases within the Municipality only.

On May 1, 2020, additional seventy two  test result was released with ten being  new positive covid-19 cases recorded in the area, this brings the total to twenty one cases of Covid-19 recorded in the Ketu South, this making the Municipality becoming a hotspot of the coronavirus pandemic in the Volta region.

However, out of this number, twelve are foreign nationals who are in quarantine and nine are Ghanaians who are contacts to the original six positive cases.

According to the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for the Municipality, Hon. Elliott Agbenorwu, the affected persons are "all the people are in stable condition", he urged residents in the Municipality to be vigilant and obey the various protocols saying "I continue to urge all of us to remain calm and let’s continue to observe the protocols and follow the other measures instituted by the President and the Ketu South Municipal Assembly" he noted in a press release dated Friday 1 May, 2020.

What is the Municipal Authority and individuals doing to contain the virus?

The Municipal Health Directorate led by the MCE, Elliott Agbenorwu has since the outbreak of the virus in the Municipality donated thousands of nose masks to residents, intensified education in remote and urban areas, benefited from both nationwide and regional fumigation exercise, partial lockdown of markets and encouraging residents to adhere to protective measures.

On Thursday, April 30, the Assembly led my the MCE distributed some  5,000 pieces of nose masks and 3,000 bottles of hand sanitizers to market centres, commercial motorbike riders, lorry stations, public and private institutions within the municipality in order to curb the spread of the pandemic.

The MCE has appealed to hotel managers and owners within  the Municipality to co-operate with the Assembly and allow their facilities to be used as quarantine centres, which is yet to yield a result.

The Municipal Security Taskforce and the Ghana Immigration Service in the Municipality have successfully intercepted over seventy foreign nationals who have tried to illegally enter the country.

Some residents in the area, especially in Aflao and Denu are swiftly adhering to the various protective measures, many commuters and market women now uses at least a nose mask or hand sanitizer, whilst fear and uncertainty has forced more people to stay at home, streets of Aflao which looks very crowded with all sort of human activities now looks dead.

The governing  New Patriotic Party (NPP)'s   Parliamentary Candidate for the Ketu South constituency, David Tiano has on Wednesday 22 April 2020  donated food and some assorted items worth Gh¢40,000 to the aged in the constituency.

The items  included bags of corn, 1500 packs of mosquito coil, 750 boxes of matches among the rest were distributed to 30 persons in each of the 39 electoral areas in the Ketu South constituency.

What are challenges in the Municipality?

Despite the interventions to discourage the spread of the virus in the area, residents, especially the less privileged people and petty traders have since  been battling with their lives.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has ordered the closure of the country's entry points, which affected Aflao the main entry point to Togo and other West Africa countries within the Municipality.

Residents, hawkers and petty traders have no business to do, few traders who goes out to toil amidst the border closure are commonly returning home with low sales. Transport services have increased lorry fares while one can barely find a transit for domestic travels.

Aflao to Accra is initially Ghc27 but the transport unions now charge between Ghc40 and Ghc45 but the State Transport Company (STC) has not change its lorry fare.

Albert Kuzor

Adaklu: 2 communities gets portable water

Some two remote communities within the Adaklu District in the Volta region, Agblefe and Dzakpo have each benefited from a hand pump boreholes.

The initial plan which was two hand pump boreholes would  be develop to a mechanized boreholes and was championed by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) with the cost of Ghc54,000.00 .

Speaking to ClassFm during an inspection tour, the Assembly  member for the two communities, Lord Nat Koffie, indicated that, the two communities have been battling with portable water for decades and through the many efforts the community and it's leaders made, the GNPC has come to their aid.

He revealed that, these communities used to walk for several kilometres to get potable water from a nearby community, Awanyaviafe, which comes with difficulties among other challenges so that has compelled them to contact GNPC after many other promises failed to come.

He expressed his gratitude on the behalf of the residents and said the people will take a good care of it.

The Contructor,  Bethel Exim Ghana Limited,  have started the first phase of the project and expected to complete construction in one month time, the Director of the company, Mr. Innocent Supremo Tetteh has said.

Adaklu is one if the largest districts in the Volta region with a vast lowland areas sweetable for agriculture and industrialisation purposes. The district is best known for its mountains, "Adaklu To" one of the highest mountains which has all kinds of creatures and attracts a lot of tourists.

Community Leaders in Aflao called on Gov't to close down illegal dumping site

Some opinion leaders and Assembly members in Aflao within the Ketu South Municipality of the Volta region are calling on the Ministry of Health and the Ketu South Municipal Authority to evacuate an illegal dumping site in Dekeme, a residential area within Aflao.

According to Mr. Amuzu Mohammed, the Assemblyman for Aflagatigome electoral area, where the site is situated, residents in Aflao illegally started dumping refuse on the land in early 1976 when the landlord was then a resident of Accra, and that has left the land a dormant asset. 

He indicated, many residents including local waste management companies from more than six electoral areas are currently dumping garbage on the land which has become a worrying situation in the area.

Although the land is well fenced, some residents still finds their ways to dumping waste items there including many children around who have turned the yard for an open definition. 

On a visit the site on Monday 27, April 2020, children were seen openly defecating, light smokes from burnt waste materials with unpleasant stench coming from the yard, exposing millions of residents around the yard to several health problems. 

Speaking to the Media,  Agbeko Kumaza, a son to the late landlord,  said, "they started dumping  this (refuse) here long ago, by then we were all in Accra and anytime my father visit home, he used to stop them but whenever he returned to Accra, the people continue dumping here...this continued and my father could not finally stop them before his death, so when we the children in Accra relocated to this place (Aflao) we continue from where our father has left it" 

The 67 year old Agbeko passionately said,  his family have met successive governments over the situation but all efforts have turned down, " …oh we used to tell them (the Ketu South Municipal Assembly) but it's not working out but through you we are hoping to see this thing removed from here for the land to be free" .

A government appointee in the area, Sancho Acussah, narrating the ordeal noted that, many efforts have been put in place to evacuate the site but it's time the central government come to their aid because they have been exposed to health hazards for long,

" just look at this, it's almost about three or four storey buildings up, very very bad and just imagine the house that are just closed to the dumping site it posses a health hazard…..you can even imagine the stench the flies and everything,  very hazardous but with you  being here carry us on your wings, show it to our leaders and everybody in this country so that they can come to our aid" he said.

Howeever, whenever cholera and malaria cases go high in the area, the Assembly through the efforts of the land owners and Assemblyman fumigate the yard to contain the outbreak.

On the part of the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for the area,  Elliott Agbenorwu, the Assembly is swiftly responding to the challenges. He noted that, his office has recently met the Municipal Zoomlion Management to evacuate  the waste and use the land for agricultural purposes. 

" ….the Assembly has tried to do a few things to do the evacuation but we have some challenge, one the place is not accessible but I've had conversation with the Zoomlion Manager to come and access the place to see the possibility of converting this in to a fertilizer factory or anything,  so he has really expressed interest but he is yet actually to send his men to come and look at it..... as they said it's been there for long and it's not a good thing to justify that it's been there for long and so we shouldn't do something,  we tried doing something and we will still continue to pursue it and see the possibility of converting the refuse in to a factory or in to something productive so we can make very good use of the place" He said.

The convenors, including Mr. Agbeko Kumaza indicated that, the family is ready to lay off the land for any development especially market or lorry terminal, " they should remove it and use the land for whatever they want to use it for,  all we are asking is it's removal because it is dangerous to our health, they can use it for market or lorry station " Mr. Agbeko Kumaza said. 

                            Is the road accessible? 

According to the Assembly men, there was no access to the site due to upsring of houses around the site, but they have managed to create some space to have access to the place.

" they have been saying that, they wished to clear up the place but if only the route that is where the excavators will pass but now the communities have managed to make a place as you can see" the Aflao Zonal Council Chairman,  Seth Kwasi Abehia noted. 

The site which is a just a few mile away from Lome of the Republic of Togo, has residents from bit 1,2,3,4,5,6 and 7 for their disposals for the past 46 years.