Message loud, clear: No stickers on walls

‘For gas cylinders, contact us’. ‘Call us for water tankers’. ‘Cleaning services just a call away’. With hundreds of such and other posts defacing the walls of public properties in the capital, Muscat Municipality has said such behaviour is unacceptable.

A reliable source in the municipality said: “This is against government strategy to showcase Oman. Law bans such behaviour and warns of fines and legal action against violators.”

He termed “clear violation” these posts which ignore authorities’ awareness campaigns and “put individual interest before anything else”.

Mohammed al Balushi, a Muscat resident, says he sees such ads almost everywhere neighbourhood.

“The scene is ugly. I believe some of ads represent unlicensed businesses,” he says.

He wants the authorities to put an end to the menace. “We want Muscat to be clean and beautiful,” in his said Al Balushi.

Sulaiman al Zidi, a native of Al Dhahirah governorate who lives in Muscat, says that back home such posts do exist, but are rare.

“I come across the service/ product advert posts mostly in Muscat and they tarnish the image of the capital,” says Al Zidi.

He said the authorities should find a way to do something about such ads in public areas, and impose hefty fines and initiate legal action against violators.

“It is not difficult to trace the violators because these posts have their contact numbers,” said Al Zidi.

Everyone should think about the public interest before his/her own to showcase a beautiful Muscat to the world, he said.