The Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly (CCMA) has announced plans to set up a Sanitation Court by the end of 2026 to deal with environmental challenges.

The Court will fast-track the prosecution of sanitation-related offences and to support the Assembly’s wider initiative to improve environmental health and safeguard the well-being of all residents.

Mr George Justice Arthur, the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), who gave the hint, indicated that intensified enforcement actions would continue as part of a citywide cleanliness campaign.

The MCE was speaking before a fumigation exercise led by the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) in collaboration with LCB Worldwide Ghana Limited to market centres in the historic city.

Hundreds of shops in the city, spanning three market centres namely, Kotokoraba, Abura and Anaafo were fumigated to stem the spread of diseases.

The move came on the back of a similar fumigation exercise jointly carried out by GUTA and LCB Worldwide Ghana Limited at markets in Greater Accra, Eastern, and Ashanti and will be extended to cover other regions.

The MCE described as ‘deeply unfortunate’  the nonchalant attitude towards the monthly clean-up exercises by some people who dumped refuse anyhow.

Such attitude, he said, undermined the collective efforts to build a cleaner, healthier city, adding: “A clean city isn’t built by brooms alone, but by hearts committed to care—neglect it and it becomes a mirror reflecting our indifference.”

To turn the tide, he urged every resident, business owner and visitor to actively support these clean-ups: “join hands-on sessions, properly bag and dispose of waste at designated points, report illegal dumping and adopt daily habits like reducing single-use plastics.

He assured of transforming the ancient city into a shining example of community pride.

“Let us sweep away apathy like dust in the wind, for in unity’s broom lies the power to polish our city’s future,” he added.

The Vice President of GUTA, Mr Clement Boateng, underscored the importance of fumigating the market centres in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and other environmental hazards.

“GUTA is very keen on the welfare of its members and so this partnership with LCB Worldwide is helpful.

“We aim to ensure that we reduce drastically, the risk of our members catching the virus and ensure that they operated in a conducive environment,” he said in an interview with the media during the exercise.

He was optimistic that the exercise would yield the right benefits to the trading community and the country at large.

Madam Ama Serwaa, a trader at Kotokuraba market, was happy the exercise would eliminate pests such as rodents, cockroaches, and flies to check the spread of diseases.

She urged traders to keep their surroundings clean at all times to prevent pests resurgence.