The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has intensified its campaign to improve the standard of household and public places of convenience in the metropolis through its bye-laws.
Speaking on 3FM’s Community Connect with Johnnie Hughes, the head of Public Health Department of AMA, Florence Kuukyi, said the Assembly was going to insist on acceptable sanitation standards with the public places of convenience in the metropolis.
According to her, there were sanitation standards attached to every public toilet facility: hand washing basin, clean seat, hygienic floors and sanitation papers instead of newspaper.
She continued, “Your floor must be a floor that can be cleaned regularly; the seats should be always clean, hand washing basin that should be free from contamination (it shouldn’t be a communal hand washing basin), and then you don’t burn the tissue paper because it is an offence to burn tissue paper outside.”
The bye-law quotes “the Assembly may franchise public toilet operations to private entities or licensed private commercial toilets to operate. When a private operator or private commercial toilets commits offence continuously the Assembly may take over the running of such facilities in the interest of the public”.
The AMA through this medium was encouraging landlords to register with the Assembly to provide toilet facilities to their tenants.
The AMA disclosed that through a World Bank grant, it has provided 2,000 toilet units for households, half the price.
“We are still registering we are still insisting that every household that doesn’t have public toilets should not shy away, they should just come out to the AMA head office; You register, you pay your half price and we will bring everything to come and build it for you.”
According to her, those who were not able to take this offer after it expires this year will be taken to court and fined or face a prison term.
The new regulatory framework by the AMA has a total of 37 bye-laws which spells out offences and sanctions compared to the 1995 bye-laws.
Bye-laws include Business Operating Permit bye-law , Self Employed bye-law, Numbering of Premises bye-law, Control of Animals bye-law, Sanitation bye-law, Cleaning bye-law, Temporary Structure bye-law, Operation of Commercial Vehicles bye-law as well as Push Trucks bye-law.
The rest are Porters bye-law, Control of Hawkers bye-law, Urban Passenger Transport Services bye-law, Communicable Disease bye-law, Births And Deaths Registration bye-law, as well as Control of Dogs bye-law, Building/ Physical Development bye-law, Maintenance of Premises bye-law and Environmental Protection bye-law.
By Paul Selorm Agbo|3news.com|Ghana