Friday, November 30, 2007 Tom to blacklist owners of hazardous billboards
OWNERS of billboards that will collapse during typhoons will be blacklisted by the Cebu City Government and will not be allowed to put up advertising materials.
Mayor Tomas Osmeña gave the warning yesterday as a lesson to advertisers and billboard owners who he said are not sensitive to the safety of the public.
The mayor said that judging from the materials of the billboards, they could topple anytime during a storm.
In an interview yesterday, he said he is not too optimistic about the drafting of a memorandum of agreement between the City and the outdoor advertisers on the possible sanctions and liabilities that can be imposed on owners of fallen billboards.
Osmeña said he prefers to just blacklist billboard owners who do not comply with the requirements and standards set by the Office of the Building Official.
Business lost
“I honestly think these billboards cannot withstand any kind of storm. We’ll just have them blacklisted if their billboards fall down so the others will realize that they can lose their business if they don’t follow the rules,” said Osmeña.
As for the owners of the four billboards that fell and damaged power lines during the storm Lando last week, the mayor said they will have some explaining to do.
“We’ll give them a chance to explain and if they don’t, then we will just blacklist them,” he warned.
At the City Council session last Wednesday, Councilor Gerardo Carillo brought up the possibility of entering into an agreement with the Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines (OAAP) to lay down the rules for their members and the standards they have to comply with.
Carillo said this will help prevent accidents and other disturbances that may be caused by fallen billboards, such as what happened during the storm last week. (LCR)
