Authorities have decided to get tough on Hanoi 's ever spreading illegal wall advertisements.
For the first time since a ban on the advertisements was introduced two years ago, authorities have decided to implement fines of up to 10 million VND (475 USD) - as well as disconnecting the phone numbers displayed.
In all cases, individuals and companies who paint the ads on walls in public places, will also have their telephones cut off - and maybe even have their work permits withdrawn.
The fines will be announced following inspection being carried out from next month in Hanoi , according to Nguyen Xuan Quang, deputy director of the Hanoi Department of Information and Communications.
The inspections will be carried out by the department and inspectors from the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
They intend to visit every alley in the city to make a list of illegal advertisements, including those on written leaflets.
"If a ward has too many illegal advertisements, the chairman of the ward people's committee will be blamed and the case will be reported to the municipal people's committee for punishment," said Quang.
Ward youth volunteers and students will be encouraged to remove or paint over the illegal advertisements.
In September 2010, the two departments held a similar crackdown to welcome the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Ha Noi.
At that time, the heaviest punishment was disconnecting telephone subscribers' numbers.
However, the illegal advertisements quickly re-appeared because few inspections were carried out.
In 2009, the city allocated each district 300-500 million VND (14,000-24,000 USD) to install billboards for free public notices. A total of 766 billboards were installed. However, they drew little interest .-VNA
For the first time since a ban on the advertisements was introduced two years ago, authorities have decided to implement fines of up to 10 million VND (475 USD) - as well as disconnecting the phone numbers displayed.
In all cases, individuals and companies who paint the ads on walls in public places, will also have their telephones cut off - and maybe even have their work permits withdrawn.
The fines will be announced following inspection being carried out from next month in Hanoi , according to Nguyen Xuan Quang, deputy director of the Hanoi Department of Information and Communications.
The inspections will be carried out by the department and inspectors from the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
They intend to visit every alley in the city to make a list of illegal advertisements, including those on written leaflets.
"If a ward has too many illegal advertisements, the chairman of the ward people's committee will be blamed and the case will be reported to the municipal people's committee for punishment," said Quang.
Ward youth volunteers and students will be encouraged to remove or paint over the illegal advertisements.
In September 2010, the two departments held a similar crackdown to welcome the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Ha Noi.
At that time, the heaviest punishment was disconnecting telephone subscribers' numbers.
However, the illegal advertisements quickly re-appeared because few inspections were carried out.
In 2009, the city allocated each district 300-500 million VND (14,000-24,000 USD) to install billboards for free public notices. A total of 766 billboards were installed. However, they drew little interest .-VNA
