Expect more sanitation prosecutions – Minister warns

Minister of Sanitation, Joseph Kofi Adda, has reiterated his Ministry’s commitment towards the prosecution of people who have flouted various sanitation bye-laws beginning from the Greater Accra Region.

According to the Minister who was speaking on Onua FM’s morning show, Yen Nsempa, recent moves by the Sanitation Ministry to prosecute people who litter unlawfully marks the beginning of the enforcement of sanitation laws in the country.

Kofi Adda added, such measures will continue to be carried out until the country is free from filth.

Some Courts in Accra on Thursday, March 15 fined and jailed some residents in Accra for flouting sanitation laws.

The Ablekuma Central District Sanitation and Motor Court fined Bernice Aheto and Awefa Nyaduro an amount of GH?240.00 each for indiscriminate dumping of refuse at unauthorized sites contravening Act 851 Section 56 a and b of the Public Health Act 2012.

According to the prosecutor, Mr. Issah Alhassan, the accused persons were caught on the 15th of February, 2018 by a Public Health Inspector dumping refuse indiscriminately at an unauthorized site at Otaten at Odorkor while on their routine inspection.

A bench warrant has also been issued for the arrest of one Napoleon Mensah for failing to pay his property rate of GH?650.00 including 30% penalty for acting contrary to section 15(2) of act 936 of the Local Government Act 2016.

The La Sanitation and Motor Court also sentenced three persons to eight months each imprisonment for indiscriminate dumping of refuse in some parts of Accra.

The three, Mawuli Kumodzie, Peter Nytel and Abdul Razak who were sentenced on their own plea were unable to pay a GH?600.00 fine equivalent to 50 penalty units when they appeared before the court together with some seven other persons for contravening Act 851 Section 56 a and b of the Public Health Act 2012.

The Prosecutor Nii Okai Aryee, told the court presided over by Her Ladyship Juliet Duduo that the accused persons were arrested by the Assembly’s Taskforce on 12th March, 2018 at about 4:30am while on their routine monitoring around the central business district for dumping refuse at unauthorized places.

Four others, namely Diana Doudu, 19, Regina Tsotsoo Money, 41, Elizabeth Serwaa 47, and Grace Akolatse, 38, however, managed to pay the GH? 600 fine each.

Again, the Ablekuma Central District Sanitation and Motor Magistrate Court prosecuted nine institutions for contravening Sections 1, 2, 3 and 10 of the AMA Waste Management bye-law 1995.

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

They were fined various amounts of money totaling GH?2,280.00 equivalent to 190 penalty units for their refusal to register with the AMA Accredited Waste Management Contractor assigned to their area.

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.

In a related development some eleven persons, including two women have been arrested by the AMA for allegedly dumping household refuse on the Kaneshie portion of the Accra – Kasoa Highway.

They are Janet Ganu, Constance Badu, Eko Kobina, Eric Mensah, Richard Asumani, Afamu Cyril, Theophilus Ashong, Evans Tettey, Kwaku Frimpong, Nii Okine and one other who gave his name as Awudome Cemetary.

The suspects, who live in and around Kaneshie, 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.

The exercise covered the Pamprom traffic lights to the Kaneshie First Light from 9p.m. to 4:30 a.m.

Reacting to the issue on Onua FM’s Yen Nsempa hosted by Bright Kwasi Asempa on Friday, the Sanitation Minister said “this is the beginning of the enforcement of the laws. We as individuals should understand that certain things are not good in the society”.

He further said “we need to intensify it from this time onward because there use to be a time when we comply with the law and we need to go back”.

According to Kofi Adda, a taskforce will be inaugurated in the next two weeks to fight the sanitation issue in the country.