Accra, June 10, GNA - The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) in collaboration with the Judicial Service, is setting up Sanitation Court in the Metropolis to fast track sanitary cases, to ensure that the fee and performance based solid waste collection system work effectively. Dr Simpson Anim Boateng, Director of Public Health Unit of the AMA, made this known to the Ghana News Agency at a meeting with the District Environmental Health Officers of the 11 Sub-Metro on Wednesday. He said the AMA would enforce all its relevant By-Laws to enable the service providers discharge their duties efficiently, to remedy the effect of general indiscipline, bad attitudes and uncontrolled physical development in the Metropolis.

Dr Boateng said the Sanitation Court would also start prosecuting recalcitrant household who have refused to register with the accredited waste service providers.

He said the AMA was also going to ensure that all stores in the Metropolis around Okaishie, Abossey Okai, Dansoman, Abeka and other areas who would refused to register for a free waste bins would face arrest and prosecution.

He said the city of Accra has been growing in leaps and bounds, so also has the generation of solid waste, hence the need to introduce the "Polluter Pays Principle" where each individual household pays a fee for private waste collection services.

He said with an estimated daily floating population of over 500,000, solid waste generation in the city stood at about 2,200 tons daily and out of this figure, 1800 tons is collected daily, leaving 400 tons uncollected. Dr Boateng said the purpose of implementing this strategy in solid waste collection was to improve the method of collection and disposal of waste in the Metropolis. 9 June 10