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NewsDay

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Illegal billboards to go

News
Harare mayor Muchadeyi Masunda has ordered the removal of illegally-erected billboards in the city by July 31, saying they were an eyesore and a danger to motorists. “Our council expects the department of urban planning services to bring down all the billboards that were erected without approval from the environmental management committee and council by […]

Harare mayor Muchadeyi Masunda has ordered the removal of illegally-erected billboards in the city by July 31, saying they were an eyesore and a danger to motorists.

“Our council expects the department of urban planning services to bring down all the billboards that were erected without approval from the environmental management committee and council by July 31,” Masunda told NewsDay this week.

“All other illegal structures will be dealt with once we have established from our ‘foot soldiers’ the nature and extent of the problem.

“As the designated local authority from a town planning, licencing as well as public health perspective, we have an obligation to restore and maintain the orderly sustainable development of Greater Harare.”

Last year, the environmental management committee submitted that the illegal billboards were distracting traffic and contributing to some of the accidents recorded in the city. City fathers have also repeatedly raised concerns over the structures.

Meanwhile, Dzivarasekwa councillor Herman Karimakwenda has pleaded with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to build a school in his ward as part of the foundation’s $5 million housing project.

Karimakwenda made the appeal through Masunda, saying they had already identified a suitable site for the school although some of the building material donated by Unicef in 2004 had been stolen.