Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) will start engagement of various media owners across the country from next week to deliberate on how to institute insurance packages for their workers due to the hazards associated with the job.
The GJA says it will not sit down until disasters occur before it acts.
Re-elected President of GJA, Roland Affail Monney, disclosed this on Accra-based Onua FM last Monday while commenting on the death of a cameraman from Madina-based Net2 TV while he was covering the Atomic Junction gas explosion on Saturday.
The family of the deceased, Mohammed Ashiley, was at the morgue last Monday to identify the body. They later proceeded to the Flagstaff House to brief the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, of the demise of Mohammed Ashiley because he was with the presidential press corps.
Mr. Affail Monney said what has happened to the journalist showed that “our job is full of risk because we did not expect that.”
He added that one of the items on the agenda of the GJA was the insurance of journalist.
He said already some insurance companies were providing insurance covers for some workers but from next month “we shall meet to have insurance package to cover every media house and its workers.”
“We need to take precautionary measures and we need to do more safety programmes for journalists,” the GJA president added.
Insurance
…with Kofi Owusu Tawiah
