By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) Sanitation Court has remanded seven persons into prison custody for open defecation in parts of Accra after they failed to pay a fine of 50 penalty units, equivalent to GH¢600.
The convicts — Samuel Aryeequaye, Evans Derry, Kwesi Milla, Richard Quintin Coffie, Seidu Aminu, Awuaaba Michael, and Quarcoo Ernest — were arrested at Bubuashie, Jamestown, and Chorkor.
The AMA has intensified enforcement against unsanitary practices in the metropolis.
An eighth offender, Raphael Adjetey, who was also convicted for the same offence, paid the fine imposed by the court.
Speaking after the court proceedings, the Head of Public Affairs at the AMA, Mr Gilbert Nii Ankrah, said Environmental Health Officers arrested the offenders during a nighttime operation led by the Head of the Environmental Health Department, Madam Florence Kuukyi.
According to him, the AMA Environmental Health Department has commenced 24-hour operations to ensure compliance with sanitation by-laws, adding that officers have sustained day-and-night monitoring to curb public nuisance and protect public health.
He urged residents to desist from open defecation and use approved sanitary facilities, warning that the Assembly would continue arrests and prosecutions to deter offenders.
