The Cabinet on Monday endorsed the draft of the Wall Writing and Poster Pasting (Control) Bill 2011, with a provision that allows local government bodies to designate places and realize fees for such advertisements.
The LGRD and cooperatives ministry placed the draft in the weekly Cabinet meeting at the secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair, proposing restrictions on graffiti and pasting of posters on the walls of houses and establishments across the country.
‘The Cabinet has approved the draft prepared on the basis of the Wall Writing and Poster Pasting (Control) Ordinance 2008,’ the prime minister’s press secretary, Abul Kalam Azad, told reporters after the meeting.
He said the new law would allow the local government authorities to designate places for wall writing and pasting posters and realize fees.
Like the previous ordnance promulgated by the interim government of Fakhruddin Ahmed, the draft proposes stringent punishment including fines for violation of the law, said officials. According to the draft’s proposals, nobody will be allowed to use walls for writing or pasting posters in order to advertise or campaign. The law enforcement agencies will be empowered to direct companies or persons who use the walls for such purposes to remove the posters or erase the graffiti.
Local government institutions such as city corporations and municipalities, however, can specify places for graffiti and pasting of posters in the areas under their jurisdiction, if needed.
The city corporations and municipalities in urban areas are now responsible for keeping their areas clean, but in the absence of specific laws they face difficulties in taking action against those scrawling graffiti and pasting posters on walls.
Monday’s Cabinet meeting also approved a proposal of the Internal Resources Division for allowing operation of duty-free shops under private management at the airports and seaports of Bangladesh. At present duty-free shops are run solely by the Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation.
-With New Age input