RIYADH, 12 September 2004 — Riyadh municipality will soon start taking down advertising hoardings from rooftops after building owners were given three years to dismantle them.
Three years ago, the municipality asked its branches to ban advertising boards from buildings and ensure that new ones were not put up.
Dr. Abdul Aziz ibn Al-Ayyaf of the Riyadh municipality said that the law against advertising boards would be enforced within a week after it was noticed that more and more hoardings, complete with multicolor lights, were being placed on rooftops. They were an eyesore for a modern city.
Al-Ayyaf sent orders to branches of the municipality to take down the hoardings, saying it was to the benefit of all people. He also said the hoardings were dangerous to the safety of buildings and innocent passersby walking on the street because they might collapse on them.
Many building owners have started removing the billboards from their buildings after the municipality notified them. There are an estimated 34,000 such hoardings in the city.
