The accused persons.
Five persons caught red handed dumping refuse at unauthorized places at the Tema Station have been dragged before the Abeka Sanitation and Motor Magistrate Court.
The accused persons, Adjoa Adam, 35; Lydia Mensah, 30; Tackie Tawiah,41; Elizabeth Nsobila,18; and 38 year old Kwesi Aryeh, caught red-handed by the Osu Klottey Sub-Metro Sanitation Taskforce which was on a special operation on November 22 were charged with dumping refuse at unauthorized places.
Three of the accused persons, Elizabeth Nsobila, Kwesi Aryeh and Adjoa Adam pleaded guilty to the offence and Magistrate Victoria Ghansah fined them GH¢360 each or ten weeks imprisonment in default.
The two other accused persons, Tackie Tawiah and Lydia Mensah pleaded not guilty and were admitted to bail with a sum of GH¢ 1000 each.
They are to reappear in court on December 7, 2017.
According to the Metro Director, Matts Yingura, “The Osu Klottey sub-metro has been facing a huge challenge from unscrupulous persons who always empty their garbage on the street especially at the Tema Station area”.
Mr. Yingura said although the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has accredited Waste Providers in all the sub metropolitan districts to ensure garbage collected from persons and institutions are well disposed of, the laudable initiative has fallen on deaf ears and people are still dumping refuse indiscriminately; hence the formation of a night taskforce.
AMA has cautioned persons within its jurisdiction to uphold good sanitation practices or face prosecution. The Assembly has in the past months rolled out strategies and initiatives to fulfill the President’s statement of making Accra the cleanest city in Africa.
These include, waste segregation program for basic schools, the use of special sanitation committee tasked with the responsibility of managing waste concerns in business enclaves, which was first piloted in the Abossey Okai Spare Parts enclave, the rigorous enforcement of its sanitation bye laws (samansaman), among others.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri