All billboards along roads in the country that do not meet the standards set by the Ghana Standards Authority will, from the beginning of next month, be removed.
This is according to the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) – the lead public statutory body responsible for road safety management in the country.
In an interview on Behind The Headlines on Radio Univers 105.7FM, Director in charge of Planning and Programming at NRSA, Mr. David Osafo Adonteng, observed that many unauthorized and substandard billboards were springing up along the roads in commercial cities such as the country’s capital Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi – a situation he said was creating “nuisance” and making it uncomfortable and unsafe for road users.
He stated that the Road Safety Authority will work in collaboration with the Ghana Police Service and the Local Assemblies to enforce the law guiding the erection of billboards.
Mr. David Osafo Adonteng noted that such attempts in the past to enforce the laws were met with stiff opposition from industry players including the Local Assemblies since the NRSA was hitherto operating as a commission.
He said that under the National Road Safety Authority Acts, 2019(Act 993) which replaced the National Road Safety Commission Acts, 1999(Act 567), the Authority was now empowered to pull down unauthorized and substandard billboards along the roads.
“Under the new dispensation of the National Road Safety Authority [and let me emphasize on the Authority], one of the functions is that we must look at all these billboards that have sprung up along the roads and do justice to the one that we think is in a manner that is substandard and do not conform with the standards provided by the Ghana Standards Authority.
So we are looking forward to this particular year working with the Assemblies in collaboration and the Police to confronting the issue strongly so that whoever erects a billboard must conform with the standards – the ones that do not conform we will take all of them away using our mandate under the Authority dispensation. This year, you will see us on the ground getting off or removing all substandard billboards so that any billboard that will be erected will have to go through the Assemblies procedures – we will come and inspect because we will be part of the inspection team and the approval team and that is the way we think we are going to go this year. I can assure you that once we hit the grounds running from next month, these issues are going to be addressed comprehensively” he stated.
Mr. David Osafo Adonteng further disclosed that the Road Safety Authority had begun an exercise to clear all roads which have lanes blocked by artisans and some mechanics who repair vehicles and other automobiles on the roads.
He stated that the practice by mechanics to occupy portions of the road to repair vehicles was also a “nuisance and creating safety problems” on the road stressing that “the road space must always be clear and must allow for the free flow of traffic”.
The exercise according to the Director in charge of Planning and Programming at NRSA is expected to be done in phases and will be in force till June this year where periodic assessment and reports will be conducted.
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Story by: Daniel Sackitey│universnewsroom.com
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