News / National
BCC pulls down sub-standard billboards
13 Apr 2012 at 02:01hrs | Views
IN a case of a donation gone wrong, the Bulawayo City Council has removed billboards that were erected by a Harare-based advertising company which it says are sub-standard and therefore likely to cause accidents on the road.
The local authority is now seeking to recover from the company, Alliance Media Private Limited, the $166 it spent on pulling down billboards.
The council contracted Alliance Media to put up billboards known as road arch signs or gantry signs for advertising purposes.
The company offered to put information signs on the billboards at no cost to council.
It, however, allegedly inserted the signs without submitting them for approval to the council.
On inspection, council found that the signs were so small that motorists had to literally stop in the middle of the road to read them.
This prompted the local authority to tear them down.
According to the latest council report, council took its decision after repeated communication with Alliance Media yielded no results.
"The company offered to put information signs on their billboards, on behalf of council. It had been advised that such a donation, which for all intents and purposes was in the public interest, was welcome. The company was advised to supply samples of the information signs to the director of engineering for approval in the first instance," read the report.
"To the surprise of the department, the company fabricated signs and mounted them along major roads without seeking council approval."
The report reads that the lettering on the signs was too small to be read from a reasonable distance.
"In an attempt to read these signs, motorists had to slow down and at times literally stop in the middle of the road in order to decipher the writing on the signs and this compromised the safety on our roads," said the council.
It is stated in the report that Alliance Media was advised verbally and in writing about the situation, but no action was taken, while motorists continued to complain about the hardly visible signs.
The report reads that council was eventually forced to remove the "offending" signs.
"This was done by a council at a cost of $166, which will be recovered from the said company," read the report.
A comment could not be obtained from Alliance Media Private Limited as their land lines were not being answered.
The local authority is now seeking to recover from the company, Alliance Media Private Limited, the $166 it spent on pulling down billboards.
The council contracted Alliance Media to put up billboards known as road arch signs or gantry signs for advertising purposes.
The company offered to put information signs on the billboards at no cost to council.
It, however, allegedly inserted the signs without submitting them for approval to the council.
On inspection, council found that the signs were so small that motorists had to literally stop in the middle of the road to read them.
This prompted the local authority to tear them down.
According to the latest council report, council took its decision after repeated communication with Alliance Media yielded no results.
"The company offered to put information signs on their billboards, on behalf of council. It had been advised that such a donation, which for all intents and purposes was in the public interest, was welcome. The company was advised to supply samples of the information signs to the director of engineering for approval in the first instance," read the report.
"To the surprise of the department, the company fabricated signs and mounted them along major roads without seeking council approval."
The report reads that the lettering on the signs was too small to be read from a reasonable distance.
"In an attempt to read these signs, motorists had to slow down and at times literally stop in the middle of the road in order to decipher the writing on the signs and this compromised the safety on our roads," said the council.
It is stated in the report that Alliance Media was advised verbally and in writing about the situation, but no action was taken, while motorists continued to complain about the hardly visible signs.
The report reads that council was eventually forced to remove the "offending" signs.
"This was done by a council at a cost of $166, which will be recovered from the said company," read the report.
A comment could not be obtained from Alliance Media Private Limited as their land lines were not being answered.
Source - TC
