Tema, May 23, GNA - The Tema Circuit Court "B" on Wednesday ordered the closure of three cold stores belonging to the Silver Platter Company at Tema whose owners sold unwholesome frozen chicken to the public at reduced prices. The court, presided over by Mr Nicholas Mensah, also asked three agencies to take samples of the chicken to the Ghana Standard Board for laboratory analysis.

They are the Sanitation, Health and Environment Department (SHE) of the Tema Municipal Assembly, the Food and Drugs Board and Environmental Protection Agency.

They will also audit the Silver Platter Company and submit their report to the court on May 30. The accused persons, Ali Massaw, the Manager and Jacob Gbati, the Secretary of the company, are facing charges of selling unwholesome chicken to the public, harbouring unwholesome meat and using combustible forklift that emits smoke on the meat. They pleaded not guilty and each person was granted 100 million cedis bail with one surety until next Wednesday when the laboratory report is to be submitted.

Presenting the facts Mr Issa Alhassan, the Environmental Officer of the SHE, said on May 16 officials from SHE chanced on some fishmongers smoking fish for sale at Tema Manhean. They approached the women and detected that the chicken had gone bad. They arrested the women who led them to the cold stores from which they bought the chicken.