In a video statement issued on Wednesday, Minister of Public Works Bishop Juan Edghill reminded the public that the ministry is the only authority authorised to grant permission for the installation of billboards along the nation’s main access roads and highways.
He said it has become increasingly common for persons promoting events to erect billboards, attach posters to lamp-posts, or place banners and other advertising materials on road shoulders and public spaces without approval.
“It can’t be everybody who has a dance, a BBQ, a lime, can just come and stick up on a lamp-post or put up a billboard or put a banner across or stick something on the shoulders of the road,” Minister Edghill said.
While acknowledging the need for event organisers to advertise, the minister pointed out that many of these materials are left behind long after the events have ended, negatively affecting the appearance of communities.
“The activities are gone. Completed. The billboards remain there. The place looks awful. The aesthetics of the city are being compromised,” he stated.
Minister Edghill explained that the ministry has been forced to spend additional resources to hire contractors to remove abandoned billboards and other advertising materials from roadways.
He warned that the ministry would take strong enforcement action against persons who continue to erect unauthorised advertisements and encouraged the use of lawful and appropriate advertising methods.
Members of the public are also being encouraged to report illegal or abandoned billboards, posters nailed to utility poles, signs placed on earthen shoulders, torn banners, and other unauthorised advertising materials by contacting the ministry’s task force on 624-2964. (Department of Public Information)
