News
BOST, COCOBOD close offices to protect workers against COVID-19

The Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) and the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) have announced the closure of their head offices in Accra, to ensure the safety of their staff against the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
This was after some staff of the two state owned institutions tested positive of the coronavirus following a mass testing exercise carried out by management.
About 46 out of the 162 members of staff at the Information Technology (IT) department at the head office of BOST at Dzorwulu in the Ayawaso West Municipality, Accra, representing 28.4 per cent have tested positive for the disease.
A statement issued and signed by company’s Corporate Communications Department said “after the mass testing, a number of the staff tested positive and arrangements are being made for their treatment”.
It said this has necessitated the closure of the head office to the public, adding that contact tracing would be carried out on staff who tested positive to start self isolation immediately.
Furthermore, the statement stated that the head office would be fumigated over the period, to ensure the safety of staff was not compromised when work resumed.
“Management would further like to assure the general public that this arrangement will not negatively impact the operations of the company since all staff have the needed facilities and enhancements to work from home within the period,” it said.
Meanwhile a source told the Ghanaian Times that some of the affected staff were working from home as a control measure.
The COCOBOD on its part, will close down its head office for a fumigation exercise from today, July 8, 2020, to Friday, July 10, 2020.
This is after some of its workers tested positive for COVID-19 during a mass testing exercise.
According to a press release from COCOBOD on Monday, July 6, 2020, the closure “has become necessary due to the mass testing the organisation is currently undertaking which has resulted in some staff members testing positive for COVID-19.”
“All necessary arrangements have been made for the affected staff to receive the necessary medical attention and contact tracing is currently ongoing to enforce quarantine and isolation measures,” the statement added.
The COCOBOD has thus urged all individuals and companies with urgent business to contact its online portal.
COCOBOD was the latest workplace to be hit by significant COVID-19 infections.
The government has noted workplaces as contributing to recent surges in COVID-19 cases.
The BOST on Monday closed down its head office at Dzorwulu after 46 employees tested positive for the virus.
At a fish-processing factory in Tema, one worker was believed to have infected 533 other workers at the facility, contributing to the surge in cases in those areas.
The spread of the disease at the factory garnered international attention as it was the largest number of confirmed cases within a single organisation in Ghana.
In Obuasi, a surge in cases in May was traced to a couple doing business in the central market.
The workplace cases compelled the government to outline safety measures to guide institutions in tackling the spread of the virus at their premises.
Ghana’s COVID-19 case count currently stood at 21,968, at the latest count.
BOST, COCOBOD close offices to protect workers against COVID-19
Source: Ghanaian Times
News
Intake of ‘Gobe’ can prevent heart diseases —Nutritionists

Nutritionists have advised Ghanaians to eat more beans-based meals, including the popular local dish, gari and beans, also known as ‘Gobe’ to prevent heart diseases. They said incidences of obesity and cancer could be minimised with the regular intake of beans meals.
At a programme in Accra to mark the World Pulses ( Beans) Day on Monday, Mr Wise Chukudi Letsa, Nutritionist and Dietician, who spoke on the topic: ‘Beans: The Super Food for Healthy Living and Healthy Farmlands,’ admonished Ghanaians to include beans in their diets.
Mr Letsa said beans was rich in protein, fibre, vitamins, minerals, irons and other nutrients and contained just a little fat. Mr Letsa, a Nutritionist with Lets Consult, stated that the presence of those nutrients in beans explained why its intake could prevent heart diseases and other ailments, hence the need to consume it regularly.
The event, dubbed: ‘Meatless Monday’ was organised by the Communications Initiative for Change (CIC), a Ghanaian non-profit organisation.
The ‘Meatless Monday’ is an initiative aimed at encouraging Ghanaians to reduce their intake of meat by taking in more beans-based meals on every Monday of a week.
It was launched after the United Nations in 2019, set aside February 10 to celebrate and encourage the consumption of pulses (beans) worldwide. This year’s celebration was hinged on the theme: ‘Bringing Diversity to Agrifood Systems.’
Mr Peter Agbovi, National Secretary, Chefs Association of Ghana, said a variety of meals could be prepared with beans, which include Waakye (rice and beans), Kose (beans paste made into cakes), Ayikple, Aboboi, Tuo Zaafi, Akyeke, and kakro.
He encouraged Ghanaians to consume more of those foods to stay healthy.
Mr Emmanuel Fiagbey, the Executive Director, CIC, indicated that even if people could not eat beans-based meals regularly, efforts should be made to consume them every Monday.
He said that was the essence of the introduction of the ‘Meatless Monday’ initiative. -GNA
News
Restore beauty of Kwame Nkrumah Circle area / State of Kwame Nkrumah Circle an eyesore!

Small size quarry stones fixed at open spaces under the Kwame Nkrumah Circle Interchange was to leave the place open and free from activities of beggars and other activities of the homeless.
By the way the stones were fixed, it makes the area, particularly the VIP and Neoplan Station stretch of the Interchange, inhabitable by the destitute.
But a walk through the area currently suggest the opposite.
At the median where pavement blocks have been taken over by these homeless and destitute, the area has been turned into a hotel where a number of these unfortunate ones have comfortably laid their mattresses and other stuff to rest from the day’s activities.
They have crossed over to the SSNIT and Kaneshie Station area with their activities and have removed the quarry stones which were to ward them off the place to enable them find spaces to sleep comfortably.


The pavement blocks removed from different locations under the interchange now serves as foundations on which beds were laid and in some cases, mosquito nets erected.
Their continued presence is not only creating a nuisance for commuters but marring the beauty and serenity of the place.
Sadly, the activities of these deprived fellows have been ignored while the numbers keep increasing day by day.
The Spectator finds the development very worrying and calls on the responsible authorities to clear the area to restore the beauty and serenity of the area.
By Victor A. Buxton