CCMA drags sanitation offenders to court

Six persons were on Monday arraigned by the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly (CCMA) for various sanitation offences.

The accused persons are Alhaji Kassim, Isaac Asare, Benedicta Owusu, Adwoa Feiba and two others whose names were only given as Sister Ekua and Kweku.

Benedicta Owusu and Sister Ekua pleaded guilty with explanation to negligently setting fire in their coal pots in the market against the assembly’s bye laws and were admitted to a bail of GH¢ 1,000 each with one surety.

Kweku pleaded guilty to opening his shop during the second edition of the national sanitation day exercise while a bench warrant was issued for the arrest of the four others who failed to appear before the court.

They are to re-appear before the court on Monday January 5, 2015.

The Environmental Health Officer, Nana Andoh, told the Court presided over by Mr Michael Gyamfi that during a routine check on Saturday December 5, the team found out that Alhaji Kassim, a resident of Petrol, a suburb of the metropolis, had illegally connected a pipe from his toilet to the public drains.

He said Kassim also had defective septic tank discharging human faecal matter into the environment as well as an unkempt goat pen which were contrary to the assembly’s bye laws.

Nana Andoh said Kweku and Isaac Asare, residents of Apewosika near the University of Cape Coast, opened their shops during the second edition of the National Sanitation day Clean up Exercise instead of participating in the exercise.

He said Benedicta Owusu, Sister Ekua and Adwoa Feiba, were put before the court because setting of fire in the market was prohibited by the assembly since it could set the whole market ablaze.