DUBAI // Transport officials say they have caught 130 advertising companies operating without contracts. Since January, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has been inspecting outdoor advertising companies who had signed deals to operate in the city. A team dispatched by the RTA found 400 violations, including expired contracts. They also came across companies whose adverts were dangerously positioned, or badly or too brightly lit, which endangered motorists and pedestrians.
Half of the violations were deemed minor and received fines by phone, while the more serious offenders received a written citation and fine. Mr Adel al Marzooki, the director of the Right of Way Services Department at the RTA's Traffic and Roads Agency, said the agency hoped adverts could be streamlined so motorists would not be distracted. "The RTA will continue the campaign against violations through issuing circulars to advertising companies exhorting them not to leave ad spaces not utilised," he said.
eharnan@thenational.ae
