The Ashaiman Municipal Assembly (ASHMA) has prosecuted fifteen local landlords over poor sanitation practices.
Disclosing the information to the Ghana News Agency, Mr George Kartey, Municipal Prosecutor, revealed that, ASHMA is bent on enforcing its sanitation by-laws to ensure a clean, safe and hygienic Municipality.
Mr Kartey noted that, the 15 prosecuted landlords had violated the Municipal by-laws which were: no toilet facilities for tenants, dumping of refuse into drains, indiscriminate littering among other sanitation related offenses.
According to the Municipal prosecutor, the Assembly had dispatched sanitation officers into all the 22 communities to ensure that residents adhered to the Assembly’s sanitation by-laws.
Mr.Kartey explained that, the World Bank still considered Ghana as a very poor country as far sanitation was concerned, and,
“This is not good for the country.”
Mr. Gashon Ganoo, Blakpatsona Zonal Council environmental officer of the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly, said, the lack of cooperation by some of the landlords was hampering their job.
Mr.Ganoo added that most local houses which lacked toilet facilities were occupied only by tenants therefore making it difficult for such landlords to be identified and prosecuted.
He added that the care takers would also not reveal the identity or location of their landlords for fear of eviction or victimization.
The Ashaiman Municipal Assembly through the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) Mr. Albert Boakyi Okyere, had warned that, after February 2019, owners of houses without a toilet facility would be prosecuted.
By Isaac Newton Tetteh GNA
