The Bureau of Public Safety (BPS) has called on government to with immediate effect withdraw the 150 dollars fee charged travellers who come to the country as part of mandatory COVID-19 tests at the Kotoka International Airport.
The Bureau also asked government to maintain the 72-hour prior take-off travel test requirement from travellers and enforce a 14-day mandatory quarantine for passengers arriving without a PCR test.
Government on Monday, August 31, announced that travellers coming to Ghana by air are supposed to pay $150 equivalent to ¢868.00 for Covid-19 testing.
This has generated public uproar with some people describing the amount as too high.
Government in a response defended its decision to charge arriving passengers that amount. It says it assessed the global situation before arriving at the cost, citing Zimbabwe, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria of doing the same.
However, a statement signed by the Executive Director of the Bureau of Public Safety, Nana Yaw Akwada, said they find Government’s decision to mandatorily levy all travelers a $150 testing fee a grave violation of Part VII of the International Health Regulations (2005), which states, among other things that except for travelers seeking temporary or permanent residence, no charges shall be made by a State Party for any medical examination provided for in the WHO’s International Health Regulations, or any supplementary examination which may be required by that State Party to ascertain the health status of the traveler examined for the protection of public health.
