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19th August, 2011
Defacing The City With Posters - Is The AMA Not Aware?
There is a puzzling irony about Accra. It is the capital city of Ghana and therefore expected to be the centre of excellence in urban development and life, particularly in the vital area of sanitation. That is, the environment is kept clean, neat and tidy. To express it in common terms, it looks spick and span at all times.
Indeed, capital cities in many countries of the world portray high standards of sanitation and create a good image for such countries. There are typical examples like Nairobi and Johannesburg which are highly rated as clean and orderly capital cities in Africa, while Lagos is notorious for generation of filth in abundance.
However, in the case of Accra, it is ironical that the capital city which should be the showpiece of ideal sanitation has turned out be more or less an eye-sore. This situation is the result of rampant acts of environmental degradation on the part of the residents in the city like littering the streets, erecting unauthorized structures in haphazard ways and engaging in vigorous street-trading and hawking.
There is even the blatant practice of urinating and defecating in open drains in the full glare of the public to the embarrassment of tourists and visitors in the city!
In addition to the nuisance, Accra is defaced with clutters of posters advertising programmes of spiritual churches, job vacancies, remedial and vacation classes, movie products, provision of loans, obituaries, public events, municipal assembly election candidates and many more.
Invariably, the posters are designed and produced in colour or black/white and various sizes, depending on the content and the tendency to attract the attention of pedestrians to read them.
Notably too, the reckless pasting of posters occurs on fence walls, electric and telephone poles, trees, kerbs, median blocks, footbridges and at bus stops along the main roads where is heavy traffic of pedestrians. The ceremonial routes, circles, roundabouts and areas like the ministries are not spared.
A stroll around Accra shows it all, an extensive display of posters at strategic locations. They are mostly torn, pealing off or scattered about, creating a real mess of the surroundings.
Yes, this is the damage done to the beauty of Accra by the posters which are paste about with impunity. And as indicated, the culprits are the spiritual churches, movie promoters, workers recruitment agencies, loan scheme operators, vacation and remedial classes tutors and public events organizers.
Looking at the deplorable and outrageous situation, one is puzzled and induced to ask pertinent questions: is the Accra Municipal Assembly (AMA) not aware of it? Does it care about the sinking beauty of the capital city? What is it doing about the wonton pasting of posters in the streets of Accra?
Apparently, the AMA is frustrated by the persistent acts of indiscipline perpetrated by the residents, having tried unsuccessfully to deal with the situation. For instance, the recalcitrant and adamant petty-traders and hawkers constitute a formidable force to reckon with, outsmarting the AMA in all its measures to get rid of them.
But there are practical ways in handling the obnoxious display of posters like the control on the erection of billboards in the city.
One is the management of the existing public notice boards mounted at vantage points along the streets. The number should be increased to allow more posters to be pasted on them. A permit should be given and a fee charged for the display of posters on the notice boards this could be a source of revenue for the authority. Cleaning of the boards must be done regularly by the AMA Task Force by removing the outdated posters to give space to new ones.
Two, with the management of the public notice boards, it would be illegal for anyone to display posters on structures in the streets and therefore the offenders would be traced, arrested and prosecuted. Any AMA worker found condoning and conniving in unauthorized display of posters should not be spared.
Three, in the event of persistent violation of the rules and regulations on posters display in the city, the AMA must impose a total ban on it. There again, the offenders must be traced, arrested and prosecuted.
Evidently, the indiscriminate pasting of posters has become a real nuisance, defacing the capital city. All hands must be on deck to get rid of it, otherwise Ghana might be compelled to go to the Nigerian way, sooner or later.
It is significant to note that Nigeria had to move its capital city to Abuja, because the formal capital, Lagos, is overwhelmed by enormous filth which is an embarrassment to the oil rich country dubbed as the giant of Africa.
Now it boasts of an ultra-modern capital city that enhances it image. It is likely Ghana might go the same way, if appropriate and effective measures are not taken to resolve the poor environmental sanitation that exists in Accra.
Indeed, capital cities in many countries of the world portray high standards of sanitation and create a good image for such countries. There are typical examples like Nairobi and Johannesburg which are highly rated as clean and orderly capital cities in Africa, while Lagos is notorious for generation of filth in abundance.
However, in the case of Accra, it is ironical that the capital city which should be the showpiece of ideal sanitation has turned out be more or less an eye-sore. This situation is the result of rampant acts of environmental degradation on the part of the residents in the city like littering the streets, erecting unauthorized structures in haphazard ways and engaging in vigorous street-trading and hawking.
There is even the blatant practice of urinating and defecating in open drains in the full glare of the public to the embarrassment of tourists and visitors in the city!
In addition to the nuisance, Accra is defaced with clutters of posters advertising programmes of spiritual churches, job vacancies, remedial and vacation classes, movie products, provision of loans, obituaries, public events, municipal assembly election candidates and many more.
Invariably, the posters are designed and produced in colour or black/white and various sizes, depending on the content and the tendency to attract the attention of pedestrians to read them.
Notably too, the reckless pasting of posters occurs on fence walls, electric and telephone poles, trees, kerbs, median blocks, footbridges and at bus stops along the main roads where is heavy traffic of pedestrians. The ceremonial routes, circles, roundabouts and areas like the ministries are not spared.
A stroll around Accra shows it all, an extensive display of posters at strategic locations. They are mostly torn, pealing off or scattered about, creating a real mess of the surroundings.
Yes, this is the damage done to the beauty of Accra by the posters which are paste about with impunity. And as indicated, the culprits are the spiritual churches, movie promoters, workers recruitment agencies, loan scheme operators, vacation and remedial classes tutors and public events organizers.
Looking at the deplorable and outrageous situation, one is puzzled and induced to ask pertinent questions: is the Accra Municipal Assembly (AMA) not aware of it? Does it care about the sinking beauty of the capital city? What is it doing about the wonton pasting of posters in the streets of Accra?
Apparently, the AMA is frustrated by the persistent acts of indiscipline perpetrated by the residents, having tried unsuccessfully to deal with the situation. For instance, the recalcitrant and adamant petty-traders and hawkers constitute a formidable force to reckon with, outsmarting the AMA in all its measures to get rid of them.
But there are practical ways in handling the obnoxious display of posters like the control on the erection of billboards in the city.
One is the management of the existing public notice boards mounted at vantage points along the streets. The number should be increased to allow more posters to be pasted on them. A permit should be given and a fee charged for the display of posters on the notice boards this could be a source of revenue for the authority. Cleaning of the boards must be done regularly by the AMA Task Force by removing the outdated posters to give space to new ones.
Two, with the management of the public notice boards, it would be illegal for anyone to display posters on structures in the streets and therefore the offenders would be traced, arrested and prosecuted. Any AMA worker found condoning and conniving in unauthorized display of posters should not be spared.
Three, in the event of persistent violation of the rules and regulations on posters display in the city, the AMA must impose a total ban on it. There again, the offenders must be traced, arrested and prosecuted.
Evidently, the indiscriminate pasting of posters has become a real nuisance, defacing the capital city. All hands must be on deck to get rid of it, otherwise Ghana might be compelled to go to the Nigerian way, sooner or later.
It is significant to note that Nigeria had to move its capital city to Abuja, because the formal capital, Lagos, is overwhelmed by enormous filth which is an embarrassment to the oil rich country dubbed as the giant of Africa.
Now it boasts of an ultra-modern capital city that enhances it image. It is likely Ghana might go the same way, if appropriate and effective measures are not taken to resolve the poor environmental sanitation that exists in Accra.
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