26 Aug Niagara Hotel Manager Prosecuted Over Waste Issues
The Motor and Sanitation Court at Abeka presided over by Her Lordship Felicia Gandedze, on Friday fined Mr Ali Mohammed, Manager of the Niagara Hotel GHC 840 for refusing to register with the accredited waste contractor in the area.
He pleaded guilty to the offence and was convicted on his own plea for his refusal to allow Jekora Ventures Limited, the accredited waste contractor assigned to the area, to register and collect waste from his premises contrary to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) bye-laws.
Prosecuting, Miss Linda Kumbonu of AMA told the court that a notice was served on the accused dated January 27, 2015, requiring him to register to allow the AMA accredited waste contractor to collect refuse from his premises and upon inspection by the health officers from the Klottey Korle Sub Metro Assembly it was found that he had not registered as required by law.
She said the Health Officers visited the premises of the hotel again to register his business for the collection and proper disposal of waste they generate he refused.
Miss Kumbonu said persistent warnings from January this year to get the accused register with the said contractor proved futile.
She told the court that, the accused instead, engaged the services of unauthorised waste collectors, who dump waste into open drains and at unapproved locations causing flooding, and cited the recent disaster at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle.
The Prosecutor said the AMA gave directives for every households, businesses and institutions to sign on to the Private Public Partnership (PPP) programme, introduced by the government to ensure a proper management of waste in the country.
She said the non-compliance with notices to allow the AMA waste contractor to collect refuse from the accused premises is contrary to the Solid and Liquid Waste management bye-law, hence the serving of a summon on him to appear in court.