Faith Baptist School in court over poor sanitary conditions
The Faith Baptist Community School at Madina, Accra, has failed to heed a directive issued by the Madina Magistrate’s Court to demolish a toilet facility on its premises because it is posing a health risk to the schoolchildren.
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The court had ordered that the toilet be destroyed on or before October 11, 2014, under the supervision of the La Nkwantangang Environmental Health and Management Department, which falls under the La Nkwantanang-Madina Municipal Assembly.
The toilet could not be demolished because the headmistress of the school, Ms Kate Oduro, who, even though was in court when the directive was given, said she did not hear the order from the court.
Under the circumstances, sanitation officers from the Madina Municipal Assembly who were last Tuesday dispatched to the school to enforce the court’s order had to abandon the exercise.
Court’s ruling
On Wednesday last week, the court, after ruling on a case brought before it by the La Nkwantanang-Madina Municipal Assembly, fined the school GH¢720 for exposing the schoolchildren to human excrement on the school compound. The court further directed the school to demolish the toilet facility in the school under the supervision of the municipal assembly.
But when the officers from the assembly visited the school, Ms Oduro insisted that she did not hear of the court’s directive and that the school was no longer using the toilet facility since it had put up a new one. She said the old toilet had since been locked.
She maintained that she did not understand why the officials from the assembly insisted on going to see the old toilet, which was no longer in use as the school had a new facility.
Inspection
In an effort to get the municipal officials to appreciate efforts the school had put in to correct the anomaly, an official of the school, Ms Ama Adu Agyemang, who is also a sister to the headmistresss, took the officials round both the old and the new facilities.
There was significant improvement with regard to the state of cleanliness of the old toilet facility. The original dirty surroundings and patches of faecal matter, which were the basis for hauling the school before the court, were absent.
Ms Agyemang explained that since the last visit by the assembly a week ago, the school immediately closed down the old toilet facility and put up a new one for the children to use.
She said the school had committed itself to engaging in genuine business and as such urged the assembly to see the school in that light and not to rush to tarnish its image at the least opportunity.
But the Municipal Environmental Health Officer, Mr Joseph Quaicoe, who led the team from the assembly to the school, stressed that the old toilet facility was still a threat to the health of the children and should be pulled down as directed by the court or at best rehabilitated.
He gave the assurance that he would get the school the ruling of the court and attach a covering letter to ensure that the order was complied with.
Background
Mr Quaicoe, giving a background to the case, explained that the assembly’s attention was drawn to the unhealthy condition of the school’s toilet by parents whose children attend the school.
He said following the complaints from the parents, the management of the school was served with a letter on October 1, 2014 to “address the nuisance” on the school compound, which they failed to do.
“So, when on October 3, 2014 officials of the assembly went on another inspection visit and found that nothing had been done, the owner of the school, Pastor Mensah Oduro, and the headmistress of the primary department, Ms Kate Oduro, were summoned on Wednesday, October 8, 2014, to appear before the Madina Magistrate’s Court,” he explained to the Daily Graphic.
Mr Quaicoe said the assembly found no problem with toilet facilities at the pre-school and the senior high departments, “Our problem is with the primary and JHS departments”.
High reported cases of cholera
He said since July, when the municipality was hit with increasing number of reported cases of cholera in health institutions in the area, his outfit had determined to clamp down on facilities that had deplorable sanitary conditions. He said the Faith Baptist Community School came into the picture because of this.
Mr Quaicoe made a commitment that the assembly would not compromise on matters of sanitation and health needs of the people. According to him, the assembly would go all out to ensure that the municipality was free of filth.
Writer’s Email: severious.dery@graphic.com.gh
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