Times Of Swaziland: PASSENGERS TO BE DISINFECTED

PASSENGERS TO BE DISINFECTED
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Sibusiso Zwane on 19/03/2020 09:16:00


MANZINI - From now onwards, passengers will be disinfected when boarding public
transport vehicles.
This is because following the drastic measures taken by the country to fight the
spread of the coronavirus; the Swaziland Local Transport Association (SLTA) has
also spelt out safety precautions to be taken by public transport operators and
workers to protect themselves and their clients from the virus (COVID-19). The
safety precautions were issued by SLTA National Chairman Mandla Dlamini
yesterday.
Clean
The chairman urged public transport operators and workers to ensure that their
vehicles were always clean. He said they would do this by washing and
disinfecting them regularly, especially when they were in the queue at the bus
rank. Furthermore, Dlamini said public transport workers; conductors in
particular, should regularly wash their hands with soap and water or
disinfectants. “Most importantly, they (conductors) should disinfect the hands
of every customer when boarding their vehicles. This means that all public
transport operators should have disinfectants and maybe paper towels,” the
chairman said. He said they as a national executive committee (NEC), had already
engaged the branch members on the issue and they would be working with the
Ministry of Health in acquiring the disinfectants and masks for the workers.
Furthermore, the chairman warned the conductors against touching or handling
customers when persuading them to board their vehicles. He said by so doing,
they could put their lives or those of the customers at risk of contracting the
virus as it could stay in hands and clothes. The chairman also mentioned that
since it was impractical for them in the industry to ensure a metre radius
between two people; he warned the public transport workers against overloading.
On that note, he said they hoped the police would be watchful on the roads.
Engage
He then asked the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to engage that of
Health regarding having workshops for public transport operators and workers,
together with SLTA executive members, because they wanted to ensure that their
customers were safe from contracting the virus.  “The safety and health of our
customers is our priority as they are our main stakeholders. On that note, we
also urge them to follow the safety precautions from the Ministry of Health and
World Health Organisation (WHO),” the chairman said. Moreover, he said as an
organisation, they believed that if they could work together as a nation, they
would successfully fight the coronavirus. On another note, the chairman thanked
His Majesty King Mswati III, on behalf of the association, for taking drastic
measures in the fight against the coronavirus. He also thanked the Ministry of
Health for being proactive in updating the nation about the virus.