Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has said $1.5 million was expended on the cost of airfare for evacuees Africa while GHS44 million was spent on quarantine for the evacuees.
She said Ghanaians were evacuated included United States, China, Kuwait, Germany, Ukraine, Canada, the UAE, China, Lebanon West, and Central among others.
Answering questions on the floor of Parliament, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey said the government successfully evacuated a total of 10,025 Ghanaians during the evacuation exercise which began on 23rd May 2020, and the exercise ended on the 18th September 2020.
The Finance Minister recently said 1.5 million vulnerable citizens were supported with cash grants under the Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty (LEAP).
He said 2.7 million people were also provided with cooked meals during the three-week COVID-19 lockdown, and 3.3 million children were provided with one meal per day (compared to 69,000 in 2005).
Mr. Ofori-Atta said the National Board for Small Scale Industries, now Ghana Employers Association, disbursed almost GH¢500 million to 292,600 Ghanaian Small and Medium Enterprises across various sectors of the economy, ultimately supporting over 738,341 Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise jobs.
The Second Additional Financing Agreement worth $200 million for Ghana’s COVID-19 Emergency Preparedness and Response Project was signed by the Finance Minister, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, and the World Bank.
The Agreement, signed on behalf of the World Bank by Mr. Pierre Laporte, the Country Director of the Bank, brings to $430.00 million the support to Ghana’s COVID-19 preparedness.
The project, dubbed: “The Second Additional Financing for the Ghana COVID-19 Emergency Preparedness and Response Project (COVID-19 AF 2),” is to prevent, detect and respond to the threat posed by COVID-19, as well as strengthen national systems for public health preparedness across the country.
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Kofi Atakora
