Regional News of Thursday, 25 April 2013

Source: Joy Online

Sanitation court to be established in Kumasi

Residents of Kumasi who litter the environment especially the central business area could face prosecution as city authorities set up sanitation courts to deal with the canker.

The move is part of measures to address the perennially poor sanitation challenges confronting the city.

Ashanti Regional Minister, Eric Opoku, who discloses this in an exclusive interview with Nhyira FM’s Kofi Asante believes the move will help minimize the perennial canker.

Sanitation in Kumasi, like other cities in Ghana, is perhaps the biggest problem city authorities have had to contend with.

Choked drains, blocked waterways as well as the inadequacy or in some cases non-existent storm water drainage in most settlements in the city, are major causes of flooding in the city.

The situation which is growing from bad to worse especially in the Kumasi metropolis has claimed many lives in recent times.

However, Ashanti Regional Minister, Eric Opoku, says he will adopt what he describes as a ‘radical approach’, to address the issue.

One such method is to get selected traditional courts to try people who litter the environment.

Mr. Opoku says a Regional Sanitation Task Force will be set up next month to arrest offenders.

He says transport unions will be required under the arrangement to take direct responsibility for cleaning their terminals daily after work, or risk losing their operational license.