HCMC uses artificial grass to stop illegal advertisements on electric poles

Two rows of lampposts on Tran Hung Dao, Nguyen Trai, Huynh Man Dat, Nguyen Kim and Nguyen Tri Phuong streets were wrapped with sheets of artificial grass on Tuesday. They are held secure in place with wires to prevent the poles from getting dirty and getting illegal advertisements pasted on them.

A representative of the District 5 People’s Committee said the grass-wrapping has been carried out over the past few months. Authorities had already performed evaluations and surveys on the measure, and had received people's consent to do so.

"This method is more effective than mobilizing personnel to scrape off advertisements from poles," the representative said, adding that the district would wrap all the poles and lampposts in the area with artificial grass by the end of the year.

However, several poles have had their grass sheets removed so that advertisements could be pasted on them. Some even saw advertisements being pasted directly onto the grass sheets.

HCMC authorities have been trying for years to get rid of illegal advertisements all around the city. City police have enlisted local help to do so, and local authorities have mobilized forces to scrape off such posters from poles and walls.