The Ekiti State government has trained 100 civil servants to enforce protocols in the Ministries, Department, and Agencies (MDAs) of government, to contain the spread of Coronavirus.
The trainees, christened COVID-19 Response Officers (CROs), were mandated to enforce the protocols of social distancing, use of sanitisers and face masks by all workers across MDAs to checkmate the spread of the pandemic that had killed two persons in the state.
Though the state civil service had been shut since March 29, following the threat of COVID 19, those on grade level 13 and above has been called back to work by Governor Kayode Fayemi to undertake skeletal works.
The Head of Service, (HoS), Mrs. Peju Babafemi, while addressing the workers on Friday during a tour of the State Secretariat to assess the level of compliance with the COVID-19 guidelines, said the workers as good partners must help the government to overcome the present challenge.
She commended the State Governor Fayemi for his commitment to providing a hygienic work environment for the staff through the provision of functional restrooms and hand washing facilities.
“I challenge the COVID-19 Response Officers (CROs) to ensure that they enforce total compliance with all the protocols to keep Ekiti workers healthy.
“The effective control of the pandemic rests on the collective action of all and for government’s efforts to yield results, everyone must contribute positively and responsibly in the battle against coronavirus”.
Babafemi also disclosed that a 7-man Task Force had been inaugurated to pursue the eradication of open defecation in the state civil service and make Ekiti achieve Open Defecation Free status in 2022.
She said: “Ekiti State Government under the leadership of Dr. Kayode Fayemi on the 20th February 2020 during the launch of the ‘Road map of making Ekiti State Open Defecation free by 2022 declared that all Government buildings and Offices should have functional toilets’ before the end of 2020 as part of the Strategies to end the menace of open defecation.
”Functional public toilets are now available at the State Secretariat Complex and other offices in addition to public handwashing stations. This is an eloquent testimony to the fact that Governor Fayemi is committed to the eradication of Open Defecation”.
Babafemi explained that the Terms of Reference for the Task Force shall include; ensuring a hygienic environment at the State Secretariat and other Government Offices, addressing issues bordering on the provision of water cleaning and disinfection of facilities and matters that may threaten the health of workers at the workplace.
The Head of Service charged the task force to ensure that the facilities provided by the government are well utilized and maintained to justify the funds expended on them.
