Court prosecutes landlords without toilet facilities

The Bolgatanga Magistrate Court presided by Mr Osman Abdul-Hakeem, has begun an exercise to prosecute landlords who do not have toilet facilities attached to their buildings.

This follows a directive from the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council in February to the Environmental and Sanitation Unit of the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly, to strictly enforce the by-laws on sanitation to help clean the filth in the regional capital and halt open defecation.

The Region per the 2016 CDD and UNICEF league table scored zero per cent in sanitation.

Last week, the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly arraigned two landlords, Douglas Adombire and Ayindoo Richard and charged them for not having toilet facilities in their houses and also failing to construct proper drainage system to dispose of waste water from their houses.

Both Landlords pleaded guilty to the charges and were fined GH¢ 700.00 each or in default serve three months prison term each.

In addition to the fines, the landlords were given 21 days to provide places of convenience in their houses.

The court further fined Sunday Anabire, a donkey meat seller to a fine of GH¢700.00 or serve prison sentence for three months on three counts of selling donkey meat without medical certificate, operating in an unhygienic environment and verbally assaulting Environmental Officers on duty to inspect his work premises.

Anabire before the sentence pleaded guilty to the charges.

Prosecuting, Mr Bornaa Evans of the Municipal Assembly told the court that the Assembly had on a number of occasions warned the two landlords to ensure that they provided toilet facilities in their homes and to clear the stagnant waste water behind their buildings, but they failed to oblige.

In the case of Anabire, the Prosecutor told the court that the convict refused to act on warnings issued by the Assembly to him to operate in hygienic condition and to obtain medical certificate.

The Presiding Judge warned that the court would not hesitate to punish environmental and sanitation offenders.

He indicated that most of the illnesses in Ghana could have been prevented and government could save money pushed to the health sector for other development projects.

There were other three persons with similar offenses who did not show up in court and the court had a bench warrant to cause their arrest.