Ministry of Transport has banned erection of billboards

The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development has with immediate effect, banned all forms of commercial activities along road servitudes of trunk roads under its administration and suspending all requests for the erection of new billboards along the roads.

According to the statement, some billboards are erected too close to the road posing a danger to the seamless flow of traffic while some are randomly erected in such a way that they are now competing with road signs and have become an eyesore.

“The Ministry is empowered in terms of Section48 of the Roads Act Chapter 13:18 to regulate and restrict trade or any form of commercial activities along road servitudes of trunk roads under its administration. In light of the above, no person shall, without the written permission of the department of roads, carry on any trade or expose, offer or manufacture for sale any goods on a road or in any area alongside a road within a distance of sixty meters from the boundary of a road in any within five hundred meters from any point of intersection without prior approval,” reads the statement.

The Ministry said in view of the recent proliferation of the billboards with immediate effect, it has suspended the processing of requests for the erection of billboards and the issuance of authority to advertise on billboards along and within the servitudes of the trunk roads under its control.

“The Ministry undertakes to carry out a thorough audit of all the said billboards, with the view to declutter the road servitude spaces and remove all the illegal billboards for safer and trafficable roads as well as the good outlook of the country’s urban centers.” reads the statement.

The Ministry said illegaly erected billboards have been a concern for residents and the business community for a while.

“Last year in July Harare residents raised concern over the proliferation of illegal billboards in their city which were being a major menace to motorists and causing the city revenue losses since most of these billboards are unpaid for,” said the Minsitry.

The statement said in 2019, companies that erected billboards without approval were forced to regularise their structures.