The Accra Mayor has rejected suggestions, city authorities are sleeping on the job in enforcing sanitation bye-laws.

According to Mohammed Adjei Sowah, at least 400 cases have been dealt with by the courts in relation to sanitation bye-laws.

He did not disclose the outcomes of these cases in terms of fines, jail terms or number of offenders. 

According to Mohammed Adjei Sowah, his administration inherited the existing sanitation challenge but it is working assiduously to address it.  

The Major’s comments come on the back of recent floods in the city which has been blamed on indiscriminate littering and insanitary condition in the city.

“Beyond addressing issues of infrastructure, our attitudes towards sanitation have to change as well, in order to help tackle the problem of the perennial flooding of Accra. Every effort is being made by the public authorities to deal with this problem,” The President, tweeted Tuesday.

The resultant effects of these floods have been devastating. 

At least 12 people were washed away in Accra with an estimated 30,000 reportedly displaced on two separate days after hours of torrential rains within the last two months.

The dead included a couple, both of whom were serving military officers and an 11-month-old toddler. S/Sgt Arthur Jabez, 45 and his wife WO Sarah Kuadzi, 40 were travelling in a military pick up from a funeral in Tema when their vehicle got caught in the flood waters at a suburb along the motorway known as Adjei-Kojo.  

However, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly is determined to reserve the trend by enforcing its by-laws on indiscriminate littering. 

According to Mohammed Adjei Sowah,  the enforcement of the sanitation bye-laws is being done through dedicated courts located in Abeka, Lartebiokorshie and La. These sanitation courts ensure that cases are prosecuted expeditiously, he said on Joy FM Super Morning Show Tuesday. 

The Accra Major said each of the three sub-metros under him, including Ablekuma South and Ashiedu Keteke has employed about 15 sanitation officers who ensure that people comply with sanitation bye-laws and those found in breach of the laws prosecuted. 

According to him, this enforcement regime is being done alongside public education.

Officers of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, including himself, are constantly taking advantage of the media to campaign on awareness and educate the public on what is being done to address the challenge.

Sowah also added that Water Resources and Sanitation Ministry has procured 4000 litter bins which have been deployed at vantage points in the city to curb littering. 

The Accra Metropolitan Assembly also engaged in desalting and dredges of waterways.

Government has allotted Ghc 197 million for the desilting of choked drains and other drainage works in the country, Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources has said. 

Corroborating the Minister’s briefing, the Project Coordinator of the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area Water and Sanitation Projects, George Asiedu, stated that the desilting of 22 major drains in Accra will commence ahead of the expected rainy season in June/July.