A total of 14 people have been fined Ghc400 each by the Elmina Magistrate Court in Komenda-Edna-Eguafo-Abirem municipality of the Central Region for open defecation.

The culprits made up of adults between the ages of 30 and 50 both males and females were arrested by the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem Municipal assembly sanitation guards at the Elmina beach.

The move according to the municipal sanitation officer to keep the town clean so forestall any disease out break in the area.

They have been made to pay Ghc 400 cedis to government or risk a prison sentence.

Ghc100 of the money will go to the local assembly while Ghc300 will be paid to the court.

Speaking in an interview with Kasapa FM’s Central Regional Correspondent Kwaku Baah-Acheamfour, Alex Damtey who is the Municipal Sanitation Officer indicated that the arrests and subsequent prosecution of offenders will help prevent a potential disease outbreak as the area was not spared in terms of infections in the recent cholera outbreaks in the region.

He described open defecation as a security threat to the nation and must be fought with the needed attention.

Mr Damtey explained that the disease outbreak associated with poor sanitation practices including open defecation could ultimately lead to deaths thereby causing the country to lose potential human resource needed in developing the country.

He stressed that open defecation at the beaches if left unchecked could even affect revenue from tourism especially at the Elmina Castle as tourists won’t find the place attractive enough to visit.