The Deputy Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Madam Rita Naa Odoley Sowah, has announced the start of a nationwide exercise to regulate and standardized billboards and signage, beginning with the Greater Accra Region.
She made this known in an interaction with the media after a monitoring tour organised as part of activities marking the ongoing National Sanitation Week.
Madam Sowah, who also chairs the 15-member Technical Committee on the Regulation and Standardisation of Signage across the country, said the initiative was aimed at addressing the uncontrolled proliferation of billboards and signages, which she said posed challenges to visibility, pedestrian safety and urban cleanliness.
She explained that the committee, working in collaboration with Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies (MMAs), had already identified and removed some improperly sited billboards in parts of Accra, adding that more removals were expected in the coming days.
According to her, notices had been issued to some billboard owners to regularise or remove their structures, especially those that did not meet the required standards.
Madam Sowah noted that many of the signages were temporary structures and emphasised that assemblies were empowered by law to remove any signage that obstructed human visibility, road medians or pedestrian walkways.
She cautioned owners of unauthorised or poorly positioned billboards to take the exercise seriously, stressing that it would be sustained as part of broader efforts to make Accra and other cities across the country cleaner, safer and more accessible to pedestrians.
The Deputy Minister appealed to the public and billboard operators to cooperate fully with the technical committee and local authorities to ensure the smooth and successful implementation of the exercise nationwide.
