General Secretary of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Nana Yaa Jantuah, has called for something to be done about the bungalows of the judges who are complaining of some defects and noise pollution. She was of the view that government should relocate them if possible.
Nana Yaa Jantuah stated that, government should be partly blamed for the accommodation location challenges that the judges are facing because it should have ensured such checks were made before situating the bungalows there. He also stated that the judges should have also known the kind of vicinity before moving in.
“I think it should be looked into. I don’t know how new these houses are and I don’t know how much money government has to relocate them but something should be done about it to ensure that the noise levels are reduced. It is legitimate and should be looked at.
“But the issue is that before they moved in there,;was there any research [on the] area. I mean, we have engineers, environmental protection; they should have known that, that place has some noises around. I don’t know where this area is but around East Legon,;Labone, Cantoments enclave, if you are around these areas, you will experience the noise in these areas. Somewhere in East Legon I hear when you are standing in your house you can even see the plane dropping down. They should have known before they moved in,;or somebody should have told them. I mean their concern is legitimate.”
Nana Yaa Jantuah
Her comments stem from the complaints by the judges that their new bungalows have some defects.
Forum used to make issue go public
Touching on why such an issue has been made public,;Nana Yaa Jantuah indicated that there is a possibility the judges had tried to deal with it and had not been given the attention they deserved and as such decided to use the forum to talk about it.
“Truly they may not be used to the noise. Because every time I try to sleep or I try to write my judgement there is a plane passing by making noise. And a lot of these aircrafts after this semi-stable COVID period, a lot of them are coming in and going.”
Nana Yaa Jantuah
Also commenting on the issue,;a political commentator,;Owula Mangote, revealed that the circumstances under which the judges were moved from their old place is something which still rankles them and if they are complaining of noise pollution,;that should be expected. He averred that there are internal processes the judges could have used in resolving these issues rather than bringing it to the public domain.
Justice Senyo on Judges Bungalows
President of the Association of Judges and Magistrates,; and a Court of Appeals judge Justice Senyo Dzamefe,;revealed that the new residential facilities given to judges, following the demolition of their bungalows at Ridge, have some structural defects.
According to him,;although the houses located at Cantonments seem nice on the outside they are on the flight path of planes from the Kotoka International Airport. Thus, the force with which the heavy planes take off directly affect the houses.
“Aside from the terrible noise created by the planes,;the doors and other items shake when the heavy planes fly over. In fact, two days ago one of my flower vases got broken because my house is the first so I experience the heaviest noise. Surprisingly the contractor negligently failed to fix double glazed windows to curtail the noise.”
Justice Senyo
