KARACHI, June 4: City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal on Sunday said special emphasis would be laid on protection to citizens’ life and property while making new policy for billboards in the metropolis.
He said that no advertisement board would be installed along Sharea Faisal, as it had been declared hoarding-free zone under the governor’s directive.
Speaking at a briefing given to him on billboards at Civic Centre, Mustafa Kamal said the city government had already started removing hoardings from Sharea Faisal and remaining boards would be completely removed after June.
He called for realistic change in fee structure of billboards and consultation with all stakeholders before recommending amendments in rules for installing hoardings. He said once the rules were made they would be strictly implemented and violators would be awarded punishment, including imprisonment and fine.
The nazim said hoardings were a major source of revenue for the city government, but public life and property and city’s beauty were more important and there could be no compromise on it.
He stressed the need for making such a policy for billboards which gives more importance to citizens’ life and property and their peace of mind than anything else.
He emphasised that hoardings to be installed in future should contribute in the city government’s revenue as well as add beauty to the metropolis.Mr Kamal also issued directives for immediate payment of compensation of Rs150,000 to heirs of a labourer died while removing billboards last month.
EDO (Revenue) Saleh Faruqi and DO (Local Tax) Hasan Naqvi briefing on the occasion said that over 1,800 irregular billboards had been removed during the ongoing drive.
They informed the meeting that it had been suggested in the new proposed policy that installation of a maximum of 1,500 hoardings be allowed on the city government’s lands and 600 on private lands.
It was further informed that more than 180 companies interested in doing the business had submitted applications for registration. These applications were being scrutinised and only those firms would be registered after scrutiny that had experience in manufacturing strong, beautiful and quality billboards.
Under the new policy, it was stated that advertisement boards would have particular size and fee would be set keeping in view value of the respective area. Besides, the record of all hoardings would be computerised. Every board will be marked with the allotted number along with the respective company’s name.
STRAY DOGS: City Nazim Mustafa Kamal on Sunday directed the town administrations of all 18 towns to launch a campaign against stray dogs from Monday.
Taking serious notice of some reports regarding stray-dog biting in different areas of the city, Mustafa Kamal decided to launch the campaign and directed the Executive District Officer Health to facilitate the town administrations during the drive.
He said that the city government had obtained the poison at the cost of one million rupees for elimination of stray dogs. Some 40,000 special capsules had already been prepared in this regard, he said.—PPI/APP
