Census Trainees Angry Over 'Maggot Infested Food'

With just ten days to the start of the National Population and Housing Census, some persons undergoing training for the exercise have threatened to boycott the training program if they are not given good food. Trainees at the Ablekuma North Sub-Metro in Accra who are being camped at the Accra Academy Senior High School have told Citi News they are being fed with insect and maggot infested meals since the training started on Saturday September 11. As a result, they rejected the food they were offered on Wednesday September 15,and boycotted the training with a threat to thwart the exercise if the meals do not change for the better. One of the trainees, William Yita told Citi News, the rice served on Wednesday, was so bad that it could not be eaten. “You put a spoon in the rice and realize that it is sticky just as food that is going bad. There were nim tree leafs in the food and they brought it to us as if they didn’t see it. There were also flies. On three occasions, we removed three flies from the rice”. “Some of the meat for the kenkey and the rice smelled such that, if you open up the food, the stench alone will let you cover it up. So we kept the food for some journalists to come and see it. The Statistical Service officials also came and saw it and pleaded with us that it won’t happen again” he added. Meanwhile facilitators of the training program have promised that the caterer responsible for the mess will be changed. One of the facilitators who spoke to Citi News on the grounds of anonymity said a new caterer could be employed by Thursday September 16. He asked the trainees to exercise restraint since the matter has been forwarded to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).