After ridding squeaky-clean Singapore of its sticky chewing gum problem, authorities are now cleaning up another _ unauthorized ads glued to lampposts that the government says cost 42,000 Singapore dollars (US$24,000) a month to clean up.

Authorities say they'll provide new noticeboards for the people who currently plaster lampposts, pillars and walls at bus stops and train stations with notices on room rentals, computer repair and even pet sales.

After an initial grace period, the low-budget jobseekers and service providers who decline to use the new noticeboards and who continue pasting unauthorized notices will face fines, the Land Transport Authority said.

Scraping off such ads costs the administration S$42,000 a month, LTA spokeswoman Lee Yueh Chern said.

The Straits Times newspaper on Wednesday said an additional 20 notice boards will be added to the five already in place at busy bus interchanges and train stations.
Offenders can be fined up to S$2,000, jailed for up to three years and caned under the Vandalism Act for defacing public property. In 1994, American teenager Michael Fay, who was caught spray-painting cars, was caned despite the objections of then-US President Bill Clinton.

``The Land Transport Authority has not punished anyone yet for putting up notices illegally, but it may be forced to do so if things do not improve,'' the Straits Times newspaper Wednesday quoted Margarita Loh, the LTA's manager for facilities, as saying.

In 1992, squeaky-clean Singapore outlawed the import, manufacture and sale of chewing gum, complaining that used wads were fouling the city-state's famously tidy pavements, buildings, buses and subway trains.

But this year, under a recent Singapore-US trade pact, the island nation will allow therapeutic gum to be sold here.

Close

Today's Top News		Top Lifestyle News
+China outlines position in six-party talks ( 2003-08-27) +Forex enquiry to curb illegal capital inflows ( 2003-08-27) +6 women drowned in human smuggling ( 2003-08-27) +China relaxes trading rights controls ( 2003-08-27) +Stargazers prepare for Mars close-up ( 2003-08-27)		+Singapore sets up free noticeboards to get rid of sticky problem ( 2003-08-27) +Dating: a tricky game for Chinese university women ( 2003-08-27) +Seven health workers with flu-like symptoms checked for SARS; patients isolated ( 2003-08-27) +Liftoff for space school ( 2003-08-27) +Sampras: 'I'm done, 100 percent done' ( 2003-08-27)