11 people, 8 institutions fined for poor sanitation

The enforcement of the law on sanitation received a major boost yesterday when nine (8) Banks and some eleven (11) people have been prosecuted for various offences under sections of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly Waste Management Bye-Law 1995.

They were prosecuted by the Ablekuma Central District Sanitation and Motor Court.

The institutions include the Korle bu Branch of the Ghana Private Roads Transport Union (GPRTU), Abbosey Okai branch GOIL, Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), Samir Engineering Company, Prudential Bank, Access Bank and the Yellow City Hotel.

Five of the institutions (Prudential bank, Goil, GPRTU, ADB, Samir Engineering) were made to pay a fine of GH 360 each while Access bank and Yellow city hotel also paid GH 240 each due to efforts to register after the summons.

The institutions were fined various amounts of money totaling GH¢2,280 (equivalent to 190 penalty units) for their refusal to register with the AMA-Accredited Waste Management Contractor assigned to their area to keep the environment clean.

The eleven people who faced prosecution all live at Kaneshie and were arrested by the Assembly for indiscipline as they were caught dumping household refuse on the Accra – Kasoa Highway around the Kaneshie portion.

The people Janet Ganu, Constance Badu, Eko Kobina, Eric Mensah, Richard Asumani, Afamu Cyril, Theophilus Ashong, Evans Tettey, Kwaku Frimpong and Nii Okine.

One other person gave his name as only as “Awudome Cemetery”.

The suspects were grabbed when official of the Okaikoi South Sub- Metro carried out an operation last Thursday night with police assistance to arrest persons who were flouting sanitation laws.

Her Ladyship Linda Amissah noted the absence of some of the culprits and issued a bench warrant for the arrest of the Abossey Okai branch managers of Ghana Commercial Bank and Best Point Savings and Loans for their failure to appear before the court when they were summoned.

Her Ladyship cautioned institutions and people who flouted sanitation laws to desist from the act; warning that anyone caught flouting the AMA bye-laws (and any bye-Law for that matter) would be made to face the law to serve as deterrent to others.