Accra, Nov. 20, GNA - Government on Thursday said it was gazetting all District Assemblies Environmental Management Byelaws to enable the districts to effectively and efficiently enforce such laws at their levels.

Professor Kasim Kasanga, Minister of Environment and Science, who announced this, said with the gazetting: "The assemblies are empowered to serve notice on persons whose actions or inactions may result in a nuisance to take steps to abate the nuisance within such time as may be specified in the notice.

"If there is a failure to comply with the assembly's notice, the District Planning Authority may abate the nuisance and recover the costs of doing so from the offending party," the Minister said.

Prof. Kasanga said this when he opened a day's workshop in Accra, to sensitise Metropolitan, Municipal and Districts Assemblies on the subject.

He said the Government was very much concerned about the increasing deterioration of the local and the national environment and that laws continued to play crucial role among the measures being adopted to confront the problem of environmental degradation to ensure sustainable development.

Prof. Kasanga asked participants to address issues such as what it took to make byelaws effective, how long it took and at what cost in order for such inputs to be embodied in the final draft of the gazette.

He enumerated the functions of District Assemblies under Article 462 of the Constitution and said it gave them enormous power in respect of physical development covering mining and disposal of waste, which could not take place without prior approval of the District Planning Authority.