ASHMA prosecutes 15 landlords over poor sanitation

The Ashaiman Municipal Assembly (ASHMA) has prosecuted 15 landlords over poor sanitation practices.

Disclosing the information to the Ghana News Agency, Mr George Kartey, Municipal Prosecutor, said 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 by-laws that include, 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 that, it is “not good for the country.”

Mr Gashon Ganoo, Environmental Officer of the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly, however 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.

Source: GNA