Billboards used by the Nationalist Party during the election campaign and which should have been removed are being used illegally for commercial advertising purposes, the Times of Malta is informed.

This newspaper last week reported the illegal use of billboards by the Labour Party, which soon after the election, started displaying commercial adverts on structures used for its electoral campaign.

The PN has now joined its political adversary, with commercial ads also appearing on its structures.

According to the Billboards and Advertisements Regulations, issued last year, political billboards are exempt from a Planning Authority permit as long as they are used during an electoral campaign.

The law lays down specific time frames when political billboards are allowed: “Political advertisement means any advertisement, including a billboard, which is used for the display of material which relates exclusively to a general election or to a referendum or to an election for local councils and which is displayed not earlier than three months before the date on which such election or referendum is held and not later than one week from the official announcement of the result of such election or referendum.”

Questions sent to both parties on when will the billboard structures used for the election be removed remained unanswered. Many of the billboards are also considered to be a hazard to drivers.

Meanwhile, owners of billboards who pay the Planning Authority an annual fee to use their structures legally and in specific designated areas, are fuming over the situation.

“Labour had already ignored the provisions of the law for a whole legislature and the government supported the illegalities as it continued to promote government campaigns via the same illegal structures it used for the 2013 election,” one owner said.

“Now, it seems the PN has adopted the reasoning that ‘if you can’t beat them join them’. However, this is wrong because we are back to the law of the jungle,” a senior official at an advertising agency said.

Between 2013 and the last election, most of the billboards used by Labour – provided by Aiken Services, a private company - remained in place despite enforcement notices issued by the Planning Authority.

The government used the same structures and paid thousands out of taxpayer’s money to promote public relations campaigns, including in connection with the European Council Presidency.

No action is known to have been taken against Labour over the illegality.

ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com

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