said the advertisment
is sending the wrong message to partygoers to “drink and get
drunk” while the police have embarked on a campaign to reduce
the rising carnage on the road, especially around this carnival
season when motorists consume excessive liquor and end up in fatal
road accidents. Already for this year, (January l to February 6,
2006), 24 people have been killed in road accidents -- five more
than the same period in 2004.
The advertisement, which has been placed in key locations along
the East-West Corridor and other areas, is reminiscent of Sparrow’s,
Drunk and Disorderly, and singer Adesh Samaroo’s, Rum T’ill
I Die, which critics say nearly caused the life of the popular chutney
singer last year in a car accident in Tunapuna.
ACP Hosein said he is seeking a meeting with the fete promoter to
remove the billboard, which is also an illegal structure on the
highway.
“We have a campaign of zero tolerance on traffic offences
and drinking and driving and here you are encouraging people to
drink and get drunk,” he said.
There is also a similar advertisement on the Churchill-Roosevelt
Highway.
“Why is the Ministry of Works allowing these illegal billboards
to be placed all along the nation’s highways?” one police
officer asked.
No government official seems to know who has the authority to break
down those illegal structures.
Minister of Works and Transport Colm Imbert has been warning people
about placing billboards along the highways.
When asked whose responsibility it is to remove these illegal billboards,
head of the Beautification Unit (Ministry of Works), Hollis Bailey
could only say it was the Ministry of Works.
His concerns have been raised over the amount of these billboards
that are appearing all over the place and on utility poles. He said
his unit has no power to remove them. |
