Committee Expresses Disappointment At Ebola Containment Processes

The Parliamentary Select Committee on Defence and the Interior, has expressed disappointment at the poor measures in place at Hamile Border post towards the possible transfer of Ebola at the entry point to Ghana. The members said they were highly disappointed looking at the situation on the ground. They said what has been done so far was nothing to talk about even though Ghana�s entry points are the vital areas that should be guided. The infrastructure at the border post is abysmal in terms of equipment and everything needed to keep up to the task was poor, Mr Fritz Baffour, Chairman of the Committee told security heads at a meeting in Wa on Wednesday. The 12-Member Committee was in the Upper West Region to have firsthand information about measures put in place to prevent Ebola outbreak, and also, infrastructure provided for patients. The Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Kwasi Mensah Duku told the Committee that criminal activities have reduced, but expressed concern about highway robbery, which he said are being carried out by alien Fulani Herdsmen. DCOP Duku said on Tuesday three suspected armed robbers were arrested in Tumu and one of them was lynched while the two were brought to the Wa Police. He said inadequate funding, residential and office accommodation are some of the challenges confronting the service. The Regional Police Commander said the border points in the region are porous and difficult to check the movement of people into Ghana. Officials of the Bureau for National Investigations spoke about the numerous protracted chieftaincy disputes in the region, many of them pending in the law courts. They said the disputes have not guaranteed absolute peace. The security personnel said they are prone to Ebola if the country should experience an outbreak since they have not been provided with protective clothes and the necessary equipment to diagnose the disease at the entry points. There also less education on the disease to guide them against the disease in the cause of their duties. There is also no equipment to track the movement of people coming through unapproved routes into Ghana, the officials said. Talking on the illegal mining situation, the officials said Tinga in the Bole District in the Northern Region has become a worrisome situation with Game and Wildlife Officials condoning with illegal miners to enter the reserve to explore for gold. �The Game and Wildlife Officials are in bed with illegal miners, many of them foreigners who are allowed to operate in the reserves, and threatening the inflow of water into the Bui Dam.� Personnel from Ghana Immigration Service complained about inadequate vehicles to enable them man the entry points effectively. They said the Close Circuit Television installed at the Hamile Border Post to help monitor the movement of people through illegal routes has broken down.