About seventeen (17) tertiary institutions are undergoing a massive disinfection exercise by the government. The exercise which is being spearheaded by waste management expert, Zoomlion Ghana Limited, is to allow students to return to school.
In this regard, parents have been assured that the schools’ environment was safe for the return of their wards.
Speaking to journalists after Zoomlion had finished the exercise, the Vice-Chancellor of Koforidua Technical University (KTU), Prof David Kofi Essuman, firmly assured parents that the intervention by the government and Zoomlion will make it safe for the students to return.
“We want to tell parents and guardians is we will work together with the students to ensure their safety against the virus.”
…and that we will do whatever it takes to protect their lives. Once they come, we will cooperate with them to ensure that they observe the Covid protocols”
The Communications and Corporate Affairs Director of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Mrs. Emma Akyea-Boakye, who led the team for the exercise in Koforidua, said 17 universities and over 2,000 basic schools and senior high schools (SHSs) would be disinfected in the Eastern Region.
“Zoomlion Ghana Limited is in Ashesi University today [Thursday, January 7, 2021] to disinfect the school and it is not only Ashesi we are all aware that the pandemic is still wreaking havoc in countries and we cannot take it for granted,” she said.
She recounted that “when the President announced the reopening of schools in Ghana, it was that the universities will go back on January 9 and the pre-universities by January 15.
“…so we have this project to do disinfection for the schools using water-based through atomizing procedures and other procedures that are used for disinfection,” she explained.
Mrs. Akyea-Boakye urged all school authorities and parents to ensure that they continue with the wearing of nose masks, washing of hands continuously, and using sanitisers always.
“The chemical we are using is chlorine-based, and it is approved by science and it is the same chemical we used the previous year which contributed to reducing the spread of the virus.”
To parents, she submitted: “if your child is going to school, in a day, give your child two nose masks, be it reusable or disposable, and make sure you give them the necessary education about the disease so that as they go to school, they will not be sharing their items with people.”
The VC of KTU, Prof Essuman, the Administrator of Koforidua Nursing and Midwifery College, Koforidua, Kwame Yarnney, Ashesi University, and other heads of schools took turns to praise Zoomlion’s collaboration with the central government since the outbreak of the virus in the country.
“Zoomlion has been helpful to us so as the government of Ghana. If you notice, we came to school for about 20 weeks but because of their support with disinfection, we at KTU never experienced any of Covid diseases. Now that we are coming to reopen in January, Zoomlion again is here to disinfect our surfaces for us,” Prof. Essuman expressed.
