Eastern Region ready for solar eclipse

Koforidua, March 28, GNA - The Police, transport operators and educational institutions in the Eastern Region have devised safety measures to ensure that Wednesday's solar eclipse was watched without any incident.

According to a Regional Police source, personnel of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) would help maintain public safety on the roads during the period of the eclipse.

The transport union leaders have also given the assurance that they will observe diverse education mounted by the Police, the media and other related organizations on safety tips that ought to be taken before, during and after the imminent solar eclipse. Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Koforidua on Tuesday, Mr Kwame Adu, a Station Manager at the main Koforidua bus terminal, said a high-powered Police delegation had met with the various driver unions at the station and offered education on the phenomenon.

This, he explained, had made them ready for the occurrence and help dispel some unfounded beliefs on the phenomenon, saying drivers were poised to go about their routine without let.

Mr Kwaku Graham, Station Manager of Koforidua-Accra-Aflao-Takoradi, envisaged that the impeding event could compel revellers take to enjoyment or scare people to remain indoors to the extent that traffic volume during the period would be very low key. He said while the station would not interrupt its services, he, however, envisage that their patrons would most likely not travel at the "critical period" that the eclipse is billed to occur until the occurrence lapse.

In this regard, Mr Graham believed that most stations in the municipality might even be able to get the full complement of load to enable them to depart for their destinations. On the educational front, Mr Godfried Asamoah, an Assistant Director of Education at the New Juaben Municipal Directorate of Education, told the GNA that two workshops had been held for teachers in the Municipality on the eclipse and sun shades distributed to them for sale to their pupils.

He made it clear that Wednesday was not declared a holiday, as some sections of the public anticipated, saying, headteachers were asked to ensure that the pupils remained in classrooms during the period or those with the sun shades be guided to watch the eclipse. Mr Asamoah, however, said for the pupils who have to walk long distance to school, parents of such children were advised to keep them at home till after the eclipse. 28 March 06