Aside the heaps of filth that refuse collection agencies struggle to deal

with on a daily basis, the aesthetic quality of the capital is under an

increased threat each passing day, reeling under the scourge of

indiscriminate pasting of posters.



Electricity poles, street posts, telecom and electricity transformers, walls

of residences, bill boards, traffic lights, kiosks, containers, sign posts,

bus stops and overhead bridges most especially have all not been spared of

this scourge.



These posters come in “assorted” ranges from film posters – of predominantly

Ghanaian and Nigerian origins - political party posters, crusade notices by

churches, company advertisements; even job seekers and job owners jostle for

space, not to talk of the herbal healers and loan companies. The landscape

of any surface can best be described as chaotic to say the least.



And the amazing thing is, city authorities day-in and day-out go past this

sad state of affairs without any action in this respect. The Accra

Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) I am under no doubt, has regulations in their

bye-laws to check what is turning out to be a messy and untidy capital.



The most hit areas by this scourge are our overhead bridges. From the

Shangri-La Overpass to the New and Old Achimota overheads, all the way to

Nkrumah Circle Overpass, the Kanda Overpass, the Circle overhead bridge and

then to the Ako-Adjei Interchange, indeed the uncompleted overhead at Mile 7

– right in front of Peace Fm has not escaped the actions of the unscrupulous

people who surreptitiously paste these posters under the cover of darkness.



Void of any formula and format, anyone with a poster and glue can paste

posters all over the place with amazing impunity - pasting on existing

posters has brought about an indiscriminate and free-for-all process that in

the end worsens the extent of defacement. In the long run, the refuse

collection agencies are forced to clean the torn pieces and yet people

continue to paste. Question, *“For how long shall this pertain?”*



Any one hardly moving from one place to another within the capital without

setting eyes on one poster or the other, which compromises the aesthetic

quality of most flat surfaces around the whole place, the multi million

dollar question stands as,* “What are the city authorities doing to right

this blatant wrong?”**

*

The AMA might have to track and arrest the people who go round defacing our

city, take punitive measures against them, maybe to serve as a deterrent to

others, considering that the AMA cannot hold owners of the notices liable.



Bottom line is, *the city is being defaced and something most definitely

must be done, and quick.*

by Shaban Barani Alpha

newcguide@gmail.com/ alfarsenal@yahoo.com