Regional News of Monday, 16 February 2009

Source: GNA

Implement supervised community service for sanitation offenders

Takoradi, Feb. 16, GNA - Mr. Felix Boankrah, Western Regional Coordinator of the Zoomlion Company Ghana Limited, has advocated the adoption and implementation of the "supervised community service" for light offences in place of custodial sentences. He said people whose offences were minor, could be ordered by the courts to embark on a supervised sanitation cleaning exercise within their respective communities or any venue that the judge deemed fit. Mr Boankrah was speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview at Takoradi at the weekend. He said the adoption and promotion of the supervised community service could reduce congestion in the prisons and also assist in reducing filth in the communities.

Mr Boankrah, therefore, appealed to Parliament and the Attorney General to enact supplementary laws that would make the supervised community service operational. He said sanitation-convicts could assist the various district assemblies to tidy their communities thus reducing the amount incurred in cleaning up. Mr Boankrah expressed regret that many Ghanaians continually littered the environment daily regardless to its negative effect. He appealed to the various assemblies to also implement their bye-laws on sanitation and introduce spot fines for environmental offenders.