The Korle Klottey Municipal Assembly (KoKMA) has embarked on an exercise to evacuate traders displaying their food stuffs on the bare ground at the Tema Station market within the municipality.
The exercise was basically to ensure food safety and consumer health protection.
Mr. Edward Okai, Deputy Environmental Health Officer, KoKMA in an interview said his outfit had embarked on a series of education to enlighten traders on the need to display their products on clean tables and not on the ground.
He said under no circumstance should food stuff and fruits be displayed on the ground for sale. They must be displayed on tables `at least three feet above the ground level" to prevent harmful pathogens from coming into contact with them.
According to him food stuffs or fruits that were sold on the bare ground were exposed to contamination "aside pesticides most food contaminations happen in the market"
He noted that once the markets were improved, it would help reduce the high rates of cholera and diarrhea.
"The soil is already charged with food pathogens therefore, it is important for all to welcome this initiative and let us not only save lives but have clean markets."
Mr. Okai noted that the exercise would be replicated in other markets within the municipality in the coming weeks and urged traders to desist from the practice.
“Defaulted persons will subsequently be arrested and arraigned before court."
He also indicated that the Assembly had also initiated a health screening exercise for traders to ensure that they were free from diseases that could be passed on through their goods to consumers.
