Angel News has observed that many billboards have become dilapidated and poses danger to pedestrians and other road users.
What is worse, some ceremonial routes have not been spared this menace, a development which has also affected the beautification of the city.
A visit to some parts of the city, such as the Tetteh Quarshie-Adenta route (N4), the Kawukudi Junction, the 37 Military Hospital Intersection, the Liberation Roundabout, Abeka – Lapaz , Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Prof Mills High Street as well as the Accra-Kasoa route, revealed that the situation was worse in those areas, creating a lot of challenges for drivers in terms of road visibility.
It is in regard of this that the Executive Director of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Lawyer Henry Kwabena Kokofu has given assurance that in spite of how extensive the situation had become, the EPA would not going to relent in its efforts to enforce the law.
He noted that billboards and posters distracted drivers more, compared with other items they saw in their physical driving environment.
He said it was critical for the various assemblies to be very prudent with regard to billboard placement to ensure sanity on the roads.
The situation seems to suggest that the authorities in charge of regulating and siting billboards are bending the rules, as far as safety is concerned, to cash in on the revenue the venture brings.
Bye-laws seem to have been ignored by advertisers due to the high demand for brand and brand promotion in the city.
While agreeing that some of the billboards posed a threat to lives, the Executive Director of the Advertising Association of Ghana (AAG), Mr Francis Dadzie, blamed the situation on some assemblies which considered billboard advertisement as a means of revenue generation.
In an interview with Angel News Kwadwo Baffour, he said that situation had resulted in individuals without the requisite technical know-how giving permits for billboards to be mounted and thereby creating clutter and endangering lives.
Mr Dadzie gave an assurance that in spite of how extensive the situation had become, the AAG was not going to relent in its effort to liaise with the authorities to enforce the law.
The President of the Advertising Association of Ghana (AAG), Mr Francis Dadzie, had expressed worry about the lack of clear demarcation among metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) in the Greater Accra Region.
Permits are also granted without due diligence and, in most cases, no site inspections are conducted.
Some pedestrians and drivers also complained about the way some billboards were sited, saying they posed a threat to road safety.
The situation is particularly bad on roads that have bends and junctions. Some billboards are so wide that although they are metres away from the roads, they obstruct visibility and one has to stretch out the head or get into the road to see if it is safe before joining it.+ gfyhkghhgjhjhhihujh655uiiooiuytr
