Alhajie Kamara, the Chairman of Guard Street and Sani Abacha Street Markets, has disclosed on Tuesday June 2, 2020, that traders and customers at the market are neglecting the use of face masks. He told Premier News that this trend could lead to the continued spread of the virus in the country. He added that more than 4000 people trade in the markets daily but a lot of them do not use face masks despite their admonition.
He said that the traders complain of difficulty in breathing and uneasiness whenever they put on face masks.
Kamara stated that, in a bid to maintain compliance recently he teamed up with the authorities to arrest anyone who enters the market without a face mask.
He explained that they are encountering lots of challenges in the market in the fight against the coronavirus. Due to insufficient space at the market, he said, traders usually trade in the street causing overcrowding which has made it difficult to maintain social distancing.
He said, “No social distancing is maintained at the market. The market has limited space which cannot accommodate the number of traders. There are over 4000 people in this market. Initially we divided them into sections, but that could not work because the market is too small to accommodate the number of traders.”
He also said that, the truck drivers are also contributing to overcrowding at the market by unloading their trucks sometimes in the middle of the street, even impeding the free flow of traffic.
He stated that, the Trade Councils have designated a park where Lorry drivers should unload their trucks but they rarely use that spot.
Kamara said that although they had brought veronica buckets at the market for washing hand but they hardly get water to fill them.
“We run out of water at this market. Sometimes we don’t have access to water to fill the bucket for hand washing. The buckets used to remain empty for days. This is affecting us seriously in the fight against the coronavirus.”
He also revealed that they also lacked good toilet facility at the market, and called on government to assist the market in maintaining traffic, supply of pipe borne water and good toilet facility.
By Ibrahim S. Bangura
09/06/2020. ISSUE NO.: 7841