16 Mar 2017

Tonota Sub-district council physical planner, Ms Neo Oke has said they intend to amend the guidelines for erection and management of hoarding and advertisement signs for Central District Council (CDC).

Speaking during the sub-council full session recently, she said they want to amend the guidelines in order to accommodate locals because the national guidelines, which they have been using, are too broad.

She said they have realised that because of this broadness, the advertising agencies and stakeholders were taking them for granted as some had loop holes.

Ms Oke said the guidelines lacked clear procedure on some issues and in the new ones, they are to set matters straight to avoid ambiguity.

She further said in the other guidelines, there was an unrealistic provision on the advertisement, which did not favour the rural settlements, hence the change.

In addition, she said their main objective is to have billboards that will have harmony with the community and be environmentally friendly, further saying they want billboards that will be safe and secure for the public.

Ms Oke said they will tighten the rope a bit on the display of billboards, citing that they will monitor the maintenance, the penalties of breach of contract and the renewals of the contracts, which the advertising agencies did not take seriously and also raise capital for the council through the billboards.

However, she said there will be restrictions on the displayed billboards’ content depending on the rules and regulations and will have the authority to approve or disapprove it.

She added that the billboards will only be erected when there are full payments, saying in the past, they have had advertising agencies asking to erect before full payments with the reasons that they will pay later.

In addition, Tonota West councillor Mr Tshiamo Dingake said it was long overdue for the guidelines to be changed and rules and regulations amended as the public was now doing as they pleased.

He said the billboards were put where they sometimes obstruct traffic signs, which put people’s lives in danger, adding that the amendment will help change the situation if implemented.

Tonota Central councillor, Mr Chris Machokoto raised a concern on the laws that are made and not enforced, saying that the council should make sure that laws are followed.

He said in most cases, the council loses cases because they do not have the court orders, adding that it is high time they engage the attorneys if need be so that the public and stakeholders abide by the rules of any particular issue. ENDS