Accra, Nov. 19, GNA - Mr Ali Baba Abature, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), on Monday asked persons who would want to erect billboards to advertise in the metropolis to seek approval from the Assembly before embarking on such ventures. He said the destruction and the pulling down of some billboards in the metropolis by the Technical Committee on Outdoor Advertisement Unit over the weekend became necessary because the AMA had become uncomfortable with the proliferation of unauthorised billboards in the metropolis.

Mr Abature told the GNA that before anyone would erect a structure in any part of the city, the one should first and foremost contact the Technical Committee for an inspection and approval of the area and the payment of the structure to be erected.

He said after the payment, the Assembly was again entitled to 00.5 per cent payment on any poster or advert, which would be pasted on it. The PRO said after this had been down, the owner of the structure would be given a sticker to be pasted on the billboard to indicate that all payments due to the AMA as far as the erection of that particular billboard was concerned had been paid.

He bemoaned instances where many advertisers did not give the right figures to the Assembly on the number of structures they had erected, adding that the action that the Assembly took over the weekend became necessary due to that act. Mr Abature said the Technical Committee would meet on Wednesday to determine whether those who had flouted the law would be made to pay the cost incurred by the Assembly for the exercise that it carried out over the weekend.

Mr Timothy Oman, Head of Metro Development Planning Coordinating Unit of the Assembly said tracing people who defaced the city with posters for possible prosecution was very difficult for the Assembly because most of the time the addresses that they gave to his outfit were wrong and therefore not traceable.

He said very soon the Unit would embark on a massive removal of all posters pasted on all the interchanges in the city. He announced that his outfit had compiled the list of some persons who would be prosecuted for defacement. 19 Nov. 07