Advertisers Association, KMA streamline outdoor signage
The Advertisers Association of Ghana (AAG) and the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) have set up a high-powered joint technical committee to make outdoor advertising signage in the Kumasi metropolis meet standards and become a model for the entire country.
Advertisement
The committee was formed at the first meeting between the National Executive of the Advertising Association of Ghana and the KMA Chief Executive, Mr Osei Assibey-Antwi, and his team in Kumasi.
The committee included representatives from Urban Roads, Ghana Highway Authority, KMA, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and a team from the Advertisers Association of Ghana, led by its Executive Director, Mr Francis Dadzie.
Reason
There have been reported cases of billboards mounted haphazardly, while others have fallen on utility poles, buildings, vehicles and roads.
The association has blamed the poor state of billboards on the inability of local authorities to insist on standards and activities of unlicensed firms who are not members of the association.
AAG
At the meeting, Mr Dadzie presented a copy of the Outdoor Advertising Standards which was gazetted by the Ghana Standards Authority to Mr Assibey-Antwi, who in turn presented to the association a copy of his first sessional address that contained his vision for the metropolis.
Briefing the media after the meeting, Mr Dadzie described the decision by the chief executive to deal with substandard and dangerous billboards dotted within the metropolis as commendable.
He said the decision of the KMA chief executive was in tandem with the standards of the AAG and Ghana Standards Authority for signage in Ghana.
Mr Dadzie said the association was ready to assist the KMA to become the benchmark for the beautification of cities, generation of revenue and the re-engineering of the development of cities.
KMA
Mr Assibey-Antwi expressed delight that the association had met with the KMA over outdoor advertising signage, saying the engagement was very fruitful.
He said the assembly did not have adequate information in the form of data on signage in the metropolis, a situation which did not afford it the opportunity to derive the needed revenue and also instil sanity in the sector.
He charged the association not only to ensure standards in the siting of billboards to advertise companies and their products but also to serve as agents of the KMA and woo investors to the Garden City of West Africa.