By Raymond Gukas, Jos
The Labour/CSO Covid-19 Situation room in Plateau State has called on government to, “as a matter of urgency, set up a specialize task force that would be saddled with the responsibility of enforcing the protocols on a daily basis until there is reduction in the spread of the virus.”
It stated this as it further tasked the government to be firm on defaulters of the COVID-19 protocols in order to stem the spread of the disease.
The situation room made their position known in a press release, and showed appreciation for the state government for the measures taken since the relaxation of the lockdown measures.
The release signed by Steve Aluko and Paul Jatau, chairman and Secretary respectively, it welcomes the enforcement by government of the safety protocols put in place and encourages it to continue in that regard so as to guarantee the wellbeing of its citizenry.
“We welcome and acknowledge the closure of some institutions that failed to adhere to the protocols and call on government to do even more to bring defaulters to book”, they said.
They further emphasised that the “situation Room commends as well some institutions who put measures in place and were able to detect and consequently fumigated their premises while testing their staff to curb the spread of the pandemic. We encourage government, religious and other corporate institutions to put in place effective mechanisms in place to check, test and arrest further spread of the virus.”
They suggested “More punishment should be meted out on those who refuse to observe and obey the protocols to deter others from doing same.
“We are encouraged by the efforts of the State Ministry of information and culture for deploying its enlightenment vans to strategic locations spreading the COVID-19 message.
“As regards compliance, face masks which were hardly worn before the commencement of the enforcement has witnessed an appreciable increase.
“However, tricycle operators seem to have scant regards for the NCDC protocols as they convey more than the recommended number of passengers who at most times do not even adorn the face masks.
“Indeed, commercial vehicle operators plying township roads scarcely do not obey the social distancing rule nor do they enforce the wearing of face masks”, they noted.
The Situation Room calls on workers and CSO’s to rise to the occasion by leading the enlightenment drive and help curb the danger posed by the pandemic.
