VietNamNet Bridge – Many illegal billboards are still standing in the outskirts of the capital city despite the administration ordering their removal a month ago.

A lot of advertising billboards appear on Lieu Giai Street in Ha Noi. – Photo: VNS

Ha Noi People’s Committee Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung had last month asked the Department of Culture and Sports to crackdown on oversized and unauthorised billboards before October 3.

The move followed reports of widespread advertising violations in the city.

However, many billboards, mostly located on city’s outskirts, have not been removed. Dozens of these are in a dilapidated condition. They can be seen along the Nhat Tan-Noi Bai and Phap Van-Cau Gie routes as well as the Belt Road No1. Some oversized billboards on the Phap Van-Cau Gie route are broken and about to fall down.

The Culture and Sports Department has said that as of September 30, more than 160 out of 190 billboards had been removed.

However, several districts including Soc Son, Bac Tu Liem, Long Bien, Phu Xuyen and Dong Anh have not completed the task.

On the Nhat Tan-Noi Bai route in Soc Son District, for example, as many as 51 of 68 violated billboards have not been removed.

Local administrations have explained the delay saying many of the billboards are not commercial advertisements. They say the billboards have also been used to disseminate information on the State’s policies.

A Bac Tu Liem District official said they had proposed twice to the municipal administration that billboards of a height less than 40m high are used for disseminating official information, but this was rejected.

Others have blamed improper management by authorised agencies for the current situation.

Tran Hung, vice chairman of the Viet Nam Advertising Association, said that the city’s Department of Culture and Sports had stopped issuing advertisement licences in July, 2014, but have not announced plans for advertising activities. This has caused difficulties for enterprises in the industry, he said.

Tran Van Thuong, deputy head of the Department of Culture and Sports’ Culture Management, reiterated that the city was determined to remove all 190 billboards deemed illegal. The city would not take advantage of any billboard for dissemination work.

Deputy director Nguyen Khac Loi said enterprises would have to pay the cost of removing their illegal billboards.

The department would propose to the city that enterprises that delay the removal or refuse to remove the illegal billboards are banned, he added.

VNS