EPA to close down churches that don’t have permit to operate

The Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA) in the Volta Region has announced a planned closure of churches that are operating without the necessary permit.

The Director of EPA in the Volta Region, Hope Smith Lomotey told Accra-based Citi News that the clampdown has become necessary following the failure of some churches to comply with the required standards of operating a church under the EPA’s regulations.

According to him, some churches have the required permits to operate in authorized areas, but they have failed to renew them.

“Some [Churches] have applied for permits, others have not, so we are regularising those who have not. The challenge we have is that most of these churches, they establish before they apply for regularisation.

“But you are supposed to apply, after the application, we check and see if the place is conducive enough for such a facility,” citinewsroom.com quotes Lomotey as saying.

He added that the impending exercise would address complaints of some residents of excessive noise by churches in unauthorized locations, especially at night.

The permissible ambient noise set by the Ghana Standards Authority and the EPA for residential areas requires that noise levels should not be above 55 decibels (dB) during the day and 48dB at night.

How some churches, restaurants, and event centres among others are guilty of flouting the regulations by producing loud sounds that cause a nuisance to the public.

Read Full Story