I READ with interest the opinion piece by Bavani M. in StarMetro on Oct 7 regarding illegal advertising banners.
I am astounded by the amount of such banners springing up, to the extent that I cannot even see the road signs these days.
I strongly believe the following steps will reduce and eventually eradicate these illegal advertisements:
• Warn the culprits that the authorities do not take this matter lightly. Failure to adhere to legal requirements will result in legal consequences. A grace period is to be given to remove the existing ones;
• After the grace period, blacklist or suspend all the telephone numbers printed on such advertising banners as well as blacklist the owner of those numbers, which means all numbers under the owner will be suspended as well.
• Suspension will only be lifted after all such advertisements have been removed and offenders have paid the fine as well as the cost incurred by local authorities in removing the illegal banners. Repeat offenders should serve a jail sentence.
The above efforts need a national approach as local authorities must work with federal agencies to ensure it is effective.
WE ARE FAMILY
Kuala Lumpur
