Two persons Charles Asante and Emmanuel Oduro have been sentenced to ten months in prison for contravening provisions in the Public Health Act, 2012 (851) and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly’s Bye-laws 2017.
This follows the inability of the two to pay a fine of Six hundred cedis each after a sanitation court presided over by Mrs Juliet Osei-Duedu found them guilty of dumping refuse indiscriminately at Tudu, a suburb in Accra.
The Court, also fined Reuben Abbey, three hundred cedis and in default face a four months prison term.
It granted Laro Dauda a bail of Four thousand cedis with a surety to reappear in court on August 11, for the same offence.
In a related development, the court also fined 8 traders from Agbogbloshie Market a total of three thousand 840 cedis.
These traders were fined for various sanitation offences including selling beside insanitary drains, displaying of foodstuff on bare ground and exposing food to flies and other contaminants as well as trading on public drain.
Two other persons, Abrewa Paulina and Ayane who were also found guilty for the same offence were cautioned by the court and discharged.
According to the Prosecuting Officer, Nii Okine Aryee, the four who were found guilty for indiscriminate dumping at Tudu were arrested by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly’s Public Health Officers in the early hours of Monday dumping refuse at an unauthorised location.
Head of the AMA Public Health Department, Florence Kuukyi, in an interview said section 100 clause 5 of the Public Health Act 2013, prohibits anyone from selling, preparing, packaging, conveying, storing or displaying for sale food under insanitary conditions.
She urged all traders, residents and commuters to be responsible towards the environment adding that officers of the Assembly are out there inspecting premises and markets for such insanitary conditions.
