FCC removes illegal signboards

ISAAC PINIELO
Correspondent | Friday July 9, 2010 00:00

After a recent operation to remove such signboards, the senior public relations officer of the council, Priscilla Gulubane-Simula, says the campaign will be a continuous exercise that began last year.

'We targeted illegal signboards throughout the Francistown Planning Area that we have the manpower or capacity to remove,' she says.

The signboards did not conform to council regulations. Although she cannot say how many were removed, Gulubane-Simula says they uprooted 'quite a number' of signboards that had been mounted without the permission of the council.

Most of the boards were taken to the council landfill, while a few are still on site.

Gulubane-Simula says in terms of Section 25 (3) of the Town and Country Planning Act, if found guilty of mounting an illegal signboard, a person is liable to a fine of P200.

But no one has been taken to task in connection with any of the illegal signboards recently removed because no one has come forward to claim their board.

To mount a signboard anywhere in Francistown, an interested party must apply to the council by filling in a form obtainable from the council offices.

'The applicant pays a perusal fee of P12 upon application,' Gulubane-Simula says. 'The application will be lodged with our SHHA and Physical Planning Committee and if approved, the applicant will be required to pay an annual fee to the council, depending on the size of the board.'

She notes that during the operation, they recogniSed illegal signboards because they did not have a reference number that is issued for approved signboards. The council keeps a record of all legal signboards. 'We carry out site visits regularly and advise people who mount signboards illegally about the procedure to follow,' she says, adding that in most instances, it is companies that mount illegal signboards.

Gulubane-Simula says some of the illegal signboards are dangerous to motorists as they are erected within the road reserve, especially at junctions. Besides, she says, the council loses revenue that should be paid for approved signboards.