NOTICE BOARDS are going to come up at 20 more locations across the island for people to stick advertisements, such as those offering tuition services and rooms for rent.
The provision by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will save S$42,000 (RM92,400), which is the amount it spends each month scraping off such ads stuck illegally on lamp-posts, bus stops and covered linkways leading to MRT stations.
“But the notices come back faster than we can remove them,” said LTA’s road structure and facilities manager Margarita Loh on Tuesday.
The ads have become rampant in recent months, she said, as the downturn drives small enterprises and self-employed people to seek free ways of advertising their services.
Members of the public have complained to the LTA and the press that the notices are an eyesore and damage public property.
It led LTA to consider using special paint that would not peel off when the ads are removed, but this would just pile up the cost, said Loh.
Another option was to come down hard on offenders, who could be fined up to S$2,000 (RM4,400) or jailed for up to three years and get caned for vandalism and damaging public property.
But it would require a lot of resources just to catch them in the act, said Loh. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
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