Illegal billboards: advertisers liable for MEPA fines

MEPA's new strategy against illegal billboards is to put the onus on advertisers by making them liable for fines and the costs entailed in removing the illegalities, MEPA's Director for Enforcement architect Alexander Borg told MaltaToday.

This is made possible through the new Environment and Planning Act which now makes both the owner and the occupier of an illegal development liable to incurring the costs of direct action.

Since most billboards are set up on public land, the government and the company which installed the billboards were previously liable to incur fines and removal costs.

Borg explained that this made it very difficult for MEPA to clamp down on illegal billboards.

"Whenever we embarked on removing such billboards we ended up incurring the whole expense as it was nearly impossible to establish who had set up the billboard in the first place... billboard owners simply took the risk of setting billboards illegally knowing that they would end up paying nothing when these were removed."

In fact Borg acknowledges that due to the expense involved, MEPA used to limit its actions against illegal billboards to twice a year. 

This led to an increase of low-cost billboards interspersed around the island unfairly competing with legal billboards.

Now MEPA is in a position to enforce the law more efficiently because if the illegal billboard is removed, those advertising on it will pay for its removal, if the billboard owner is not known.

As from the beginning of the year MEPA has already issued around 50 enforcement notices against illegal billboards and only two weeks ago MEPA removed a number of billboards from Marsa, Mriehel, Zebbug and Attard.

One of the advantages of the new system is that advertisers are feeling more responsible for their actions.

"Serious companies do not like being associated with illegal development and some of them immediately ask the owners to remove the advert as soon as they are notified by MEPA that the billboard is illegal."

Borg cites large companies who have already taken the initiative by writing billboard owners to have their adverts removed after being notified by MEPA of the illegality.

Thanks to the strengthening of its enforcement powers, Borg has dedicated one of his officers to mainly focus on billboards.

MEPA will also be in a better position to enforce the law as soon as a new legal notice regulating daily fines imposed on illegal development is issued.