KMA to introduce Metro Sanitation Police

A Metropolitan Police, which will be responsible for the enforcement of environmental bye-laws of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA will soon be introduced in the Metropolis.

In enforcing the environmental bye-laws, the police will impose on the spot fines on people who litter the city indiscriminately.

This was announced by Mr Maxwell Kofi Jumah, the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) in his sessional address to the KMA in Kumasi on Monday.

He said it was a matter of great concern to the assembly that despite recent provision of litters at strategic points in the city, people still littered the streets and gutters.

Mr Jumah said Kumasi cannot regain its past accolade of Garden City of West Africa if its environment was not given due attention.

"While the assembly would do its best to intensify its drainage and street cleaning exercises, we should gather the political courage to enforce the bye-laws of the assembly without fear or favour, he said.

If we arm ourselves with the requisite information and interprete the bye-laws properly, we could help Kumasi enforce its regulations especially those on community health", he added.

Mr Jumah said the Environmental Health Management Department would be made to intensify its house-to-house inspections to ensure compliance to health regulations.

He indicated that the assembly in the course of the year would initiate a major safe food and anti-mosquito campaign programmes in the metropolis and called on the assembly members and landlords as well as food vendors to give their maximum co-operation and support to the programme.

On education, the MCE said the assembly is to embark on the establishment of Information Technology (IT) centres for each of the four sub-metropolitan councils, adding that "work was still going on and the assembly hoped to unveil these soon".

Touching on encroachment on school lands, he appealed to the Kumasi Traditional Council, the media, the clergy and community leaders to support the vision of Asantehene by making school lands sacrosanct and should also help to remove the containers, kiosks and drug dealers out of school lands.