Elubo(W/R), March 30, GNA-Commuters, residents, traders and market women at the Elubo land border have expressed mixed reactions following the re-opening of land borders by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
According to them, though the move was welcomed, there were problems bedevilling traders and must be tackled to bring life back to normalcy.
Speaking to journalists at the Elubo border, some residents and businessmen and women lamented that businesses were yet to pick up as many of the people in the area had gone back to their various towns following the closure of the border somewhere in 2020 because of the Coronavirus pandemic.
According to the traders, life had become unbearable for them; and appealed to the government to come to their aid with loan facilities to cushion their businesses.
“All our businesses have been collapsed; we went for loans, and we can’t pay, the banks are chasing us, and we don’t know what to do, although we are happy, they have reopened the border for us, but we don’t have enough money to do our businesses, so we are telling President Akufo-Addo to support us with loans,” they pleaded.
Briefing journalists at the Elubo border, Mrs Dorcas Afo-Toffey, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Jomoro, expressed her happiness over the re-opening of land borders, especially the Elubo Border.
Mrs Afo-Toffey, who was at the Elubo border to interact with residents and security officers in the area said: “I’m very happy, we have actually fought for a long time and the time has come today for the land borders to be reopened am excited and I thank God for this day, it hasn’t been easy for the residents and constituents, but God has spoken.”
She was optimistic that businesses that had collapsed at Elubo would bounce back.
“I am looking forward to seeing businesses which were collapsed during the closure of the Elubo border bounce back very soon because during the closure, the Elubo community turned into a ghost town and I’m hopeful that the people will come back,” she said.
Mrs Afo Toffey thanked the security officers who have manned the Elubo border since the closure of the border in March 2020.
The MP pledged to support the traders in the area with some loans to support their businesses to bounce back.
“…I have established the Women’s Loan Package and I will sit with the traders here and know how possible I can support them with some loans to re-start their businesses,” she assured.
The MP, therefore, called on the traders who left the Elubo town to return to restart their businesses.
“They were here, and they left, this town is a border town so most of the people living here are not from this area so when there is nothing going on, of course, they will move back to their various towns so now that the Elubo border is reopened they should come back and embark on their businesses”,
The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Madam Louisa Iris Arde also commended the security officers at the border for their yeoman’s job.
She recounted the devastating effects the border closure had on the people and the Assembly as well.
The MCE said the Assembly’s revenue mobilization had dipped greatly because of the no economic activities due to the closure of the border
Madam Louisa Arde thanked the constituents for their support despite the effects of the economic downturn on their livelihoods.