The Director of Environment at the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Madam Florence Kuukyi, has disputed media reports that Environmental Health Officers in charge of Covid-19 related burials are on strike.
Speaking exclusively on Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm, she indicated that environmental service workers in Greater Accra have not received any directive instructing them to embark on strike.
According to her, the region is preparing to bury eight bodies on Thursday, August 19, 2021, hence the public should ignore the media reports.
The Environmental Health Officers Alliance Ghana (EHOAG) has suspended the burial of all covid-19 related dead bodies in the country as they lament government has refused to provide environmental officers in various assemblies with the necessary Personal Protective Equipment (PPE’s) and logistics to carry out their duties.
The national president for EHOAG who doubles as the acting District Environmental Health Officer for Denkyembour district in the Eastern region, Yaw Akwaa Lartey speaking on the issue said, “since the outbreak of Covid-19 in Ghana, we the environmental health officers in charge of burying Covid-19 dead bodies have been buying nose masks, gloves and other basic safety gears ourselves. The government does not provide us with the basic wears that will ensure our work is safe from infections.”
But commenting on this, Madam Kuukyi stated on authority that ”we are not embarking on strike action. The story is misleading, and I would encourage the public to disregard the claims”.
She further disclosed that whatever they need for their work and all allowances have been paid, and so, there is no justification in declaring a strike action.
The payment of allowances she noted are paid in batches, and anyone who has received their allowances could be as a result of their inability to submit their data for processing.
”We have received our tax exemptions, so why should we embark on strike? We have declared a strike. We would be burying some eight bodies tomorrow, Thursday, August 19, 2021,” she added.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com
