More fined for pasting ads on street fixtures

[Cao Pi]

More fined for pasting ads on street fixtures
By Ng Lian Cheong/Sharon See | Posted: 27 June 2010 1959 hrs
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Advertisements pasted on a street lamp post. </td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td class="update"></td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>
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SINGAPORE: About 1,300 people were fined in the first four months of this year for pasting advertisements illegally on street fixtures like lamp posts.

The number is more than four times that of the same period last year.

Land Transport Authority (LTA) inspectors who come across such advertisements will first take a photo of them as evidence.

They will then call the numbers on the advertisements to warn those who put up the adverts that it is an offence to do so.

But this is not always effective. LTA says some people simply avoided answering the phone or claim not to understand English.

So the LTA has come up with a new solution.

LTA's acting manager for road infrastructure management, Yoong Chin Chong, said: "To be more effective....we send out SMSes to them in Chinese and English, telling them this is an illegal act, and we want them to remove the illegal advertisement. After that, we go back to check and if we find that the illegal advertisements still remain, we will issue a fine to the offenders."

LTA said it has received fewer complaints about illegal advertisements after they started using SMSes to warn offenders.

First-time offenders are fined S$300. Recalcitrant offenders will be brought to court, and they can be fined up to S$2,000.

- CNA/ir