The Association of Ghana Industries, AGI, says it is taking urgent measures to provide its members with appropriate forms of identification to avoid any misunderstanding with security personnel enforcing the lockdown directive of the Government.
This has become necessary due to the challenges some of its members in the SME sector are facing in the hands of the security personnel because of the restrictions on movement which has been limited to only attendance to essential service.
Due to the rise in the number of recorded cases of covid-19 in Ghana the President, H.E. Akuffo-Addo, on Friday, March 27, 2020, as part of effort to curtail the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the country, announced a 14-day partial lockdown in Accra, Tema, Kasoa and Kumasi.,
This has greatly affected many people as the restrictions on movement has altered their daily activities.
Identity cards
Speaking to Accra based Citi FM, in an interview, the Chief Executive Officer of the AGI, Seth Twum Akwaboah, however, said identity cards must be provided to all their players in the entire AGI value chain to ensure that essential goods and services get to the final consumer.
“Those who don’t have, we have decided to make an arrangement that within this short period, we can actually issue the ID cards for especially the SMEs who are allowed to operate but do not have ID cards.
“Let’s also bear in mind that we are not only talking about the factory side; but also, the entire supply chain because if you produce without having the supply chain; you can’t bring it to the market he explained.
For the value chain to work, he says transporters of their manufactured good must be allowed to transport goods to the wholesalers, who will in turn pass them on to the retailers.
If this does not happen, he cautioned that there may be shortages of essential items in the system because food has not been allowed to be transported to the shops.
Therefore, he adds, “the exemption is not only limited to the factories that are producing. It is also the entire chain. But of course, you must be related to the product that you are talking about”.
The AGI has however advised larger companies that are yet to provide proper identification for their employees within the two-week partial lockdown period to do so as soon as possible.
