Koala Shopping Mall Fined for Selling Expired Products

The La Sanitation and Motor Court has fined the Koala Shopping Centre at Osu GH¢9,600 for displaying and selling expired products.
The shopping centre was also charged with accumulating harmful objects on their premises and discharging human excreta into a public drain.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Chief Environmental Officer of the La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly (LaDMA), Mr Paul Agbagba, who was the prosecutor, said on October 13, this year, a team of environmental and public health officers from the assembly, on a routine environmental health inspection, visited the shopping centre and in the course of their duties found expired products that had been put up for sale.
According to him, further checks revealed that more of the expired products were being kept in storerooms and a cold room.
Mr Agbagba said the situation prompted the team to carry out additional inspection on the premises, only to discover that there were detrimental particles and refuse piled up in a corner on the compound.
The inspection team also found that the shopping centre had connected its sceptic tank to a public drain and was discharging faeces into it.
He said a court summon was, therefore, issued to the management of the centre. He said in their first appearance, the respondents pleaded not guilty,but changed their plea, in their second appearance, to guilty.
The court, presided over by Justice Mrs Emelia Abrokwah, found the shopping centre guilty of the offences and fined them GH¢9,600. Mr Agbagba also noted that the actions of the Koala Shopping Centre was of serious concern considering the fact that the La Dadekotopon Municipality had recorded one of the highest cases of cholera in the metropolis in recent times.
He said the prosecution of the shopping centre should serve as a deterrent to others who were exhibiting similar habits. He promised that inspection of premises in the municipality was ongoing and would be maintained in order to bring about cleanliness.