The first Sanitation and Motor court has been inaugurated by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, (AMA) at the Ablekuma Central Sub-metro office. The court, which will be replicated in all the 11 sub-metros of the AMA, is to deal with cases related to poor personal hygiene, littering, sale of unwholesome food, dangerous driving, driving under the influence of alcohol, among others. Drivers who drive carelessly, without license and drive defective vehicles, risk being arrested for trial at the AMA specialised court which begins sitting this month. In an address read on her behalf by a High Court Judge, Justice Kwadwo Owusu, to open the court, the Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Theodora Wood, commended the AMA for the initiative, stressing that it would go a long way to improve sanitation, as well as safe driving in the national capital, Accra. She said the court was mandated to try cases including littering, exposing human excreta, causing noise, obstruction of public way, slaughtering of cows at places other than at approved slaughter houses. Under the Criminal Code, 1960 Act 29 subsection 26, subsection 296, the AMA court will also try cases related to the sale of unwholesome food, engaging in noxious trade and also prosecute owners of stray animals. Offences related to motor which the AMA is mandated to try, include failure to wear seat belt and speeding. Explaining the rationale for the establishment of the courts, the Chief Justice said "such cases have both health and economic impact on the population in your metropolis, they need to be resolved expeditiously by specialised courts". She urged prosecutors assigned to the specialised court to work hard to ensure its success, stressing that "Prosecutors have a major role to play for the success of these courts." Her Worship, Ms Janet Anima-Maafo, is the magistrate for the new court expected to sit everyday including Saturdays. The Metropolitan Chief Executive of the AMA, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, explained that the establishment of the specialised court was under the Millennium City initiative and expressed the hope that once hearing begins and people were prosecuted for doing wrong, incidence of littering and indiscriminate dumping of both solid and liquid waste will reduce. These practices he said impacted rather negatively on the environment and consequently needed to be nipped in the bud. There are currently 240 Environmental Health Officers (EHO) who have been dispatched into the various communities to arrest people who flout the AMA Bye-laws. "I wish to stress that the problem of .managing sanitation in our communities rank among the major challenges of the metropolis. There is indiscriminate disposal of refuse, defecation, littering on both streets and drains", he stated. Mr Vanderpuije stated that environmental sanitation was the responsibility of all and not just the AMA and called on the public to assist the AMA keep the city clean. "The time has come in our general existence to hold everybody responsible to ensure law and order in sanitation and motor traffic security in our way of life", he said. The Member of Parliament for Ablekuma Central, Mr Theophilus Tetteh Chaie advised officials of the assembly not to use their position to intimidate the residents but rather assist them to understand what was required of them to help improve the city. Zoomlion Ghana Limited is in charge of managing solid waste at Ablekuma Central and according to the Sub-Metro Director, Mr Maxwell Gyimah, almost everyone in the populous sub-metro had been served with litter bins. He expressed the hope that the company would continue to render quality service the people in the area to reduce incidence of indiscriminate dumping of waste and littering. Source: Daily Graphic