ADR cases in Ashaiman increase from 259 to 416

Ashaiman, Aug 6, GNA - Cases registered from Ashaiman and its environs by the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Centre at Ashaiman increased from 259 (January - June) in 2008 to 416 during the same period this year.

Mr Gabriel Atsu, Court Connected Mediator, told newsmen at Ashaiman that the cases involved were rent related, debt recovery, child neglect, land disputes and disputes over family properties. The rest were marital disputes, denial of paternity, causing damage and miscellaneous acts.

Mr Atsu said out of the 416 cases received by the Centre from January to June this year, 393 were resolved leaving 23 unsettled. He said rent cases topped the list with a total of 259, followed by debt recovery, 26, while child neglect and maintenance took the third position with 10 cases.

Mr Atsu said rent related issues were the highest on the list because landlords/ladies demanded high rent advances that prospective tenants could not afford.

He said out of the 416 cases received by the Centre, Ashaiman recorded 371, leaving only 45, coming from outside the Municipality. Mr Atsu said since its inception in 2000, the Ashaiman ADR Centre had disposed of 3,000 cases.

He said people in the Municipality had embraced the ADR concept, attributing this to swift and prompt disposal of cases coupled with the relative low of cost.

"The no loser approach in settling cases has been a major contributory factor to the confidence the people have in the ADR concept". Mr Kingsley Kutiame, an ADR Practitioner, said complainants, who cannot afford to pay for service fees, are always given free services by the centre.

Mr Kutiame appealed to the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly, NGOs philanthropists, corporate bodies and public-spirited individuals, to offer financial assistance to the Centre, to enable it live up to expectation.