LANDLORDS, CORPORATE BODIES TOLD TO PAINT BUILDINGS (Page 29)

Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Takoradi

THE Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Assembly has warned that landlords and corporate institutions who failed to paint their structures before the end of the first week of January would be prosecuted.
It said the landlords and corporate entities had ignored their property, making the once beautiful buildings very ugly objects now, which had destroyed the beauty of the metropolis.
The Public Relations Manager of the assembly, Mr John Laste, said someone might ask what the business of the assembly was in asking landlords and corporate entities to paint their buildings, “but the answer is if you have built a house and you fail to paint it, it is the business of the assembly, because by law, you should paint your building every five years, but some of the houses have not seen paint for more than a  decade and a half”.
“We at the assembly cannot go round painting people’s houses for them just because we want the capital to look nice, it is our responsibility to ensure that the laws are enforced and people comply with them,” he said.
Mr Laste further expressed worry that some members of the business community had left their buildings very dirty, and one wondered if they were still in operation.
“Their focus is more on how much they can make than the upkeep of the environment in which they were working,“ he said.
According to him, the assembly had no option than to prosecute those who violated the bye-laws by the end the first week in January, 2008 after several notices to them to have their houses painted.
When the Daily Graphic sought the views of some landlords on the bye-laws and what they were doing about the ultimatum, some said they were aware of the notices, but they did not have the money to buy paint for the buildings.
Others, however, were of the view that the houses were family property and, therefore, it was difficult for them to take sole responsibility for its maintenance.
To them, if the assembly could enter into agreement with companies that dealt in paint to reduce the prices of their products for that period, they would procure some and paint the houses.