Public recruited in fight against illegal ads
Illegal fliers and advertising bills posted on buildings and wire poles have long been a headache for Beijing's urban management authorities.
Now a new reward system introduced by Haidian district is helping to crack down on illegal advertising.
Under it, anyone who hands in an illegally distributed advertisement or posted bill will be awarded a small sum. A substantial reward of 1,000 yuan ($140) will go to those who escort an offender to the urban management office.
An IT worker surnamed Wu became the first to do so when he brought a teenage girl to the office on June 6, the day the regulation took effect.
"I saw her sticking bills near the Zhichunlu subway station and went over directly to catch her," Wu told the Beijing News.
The girl he turned in, Chen Fei, a 14-year-old girl from Jiangsu province, said she did not know whom she was working for, but had just been following orders to post 300 bills a day.
The urban management office has started investigating.
When asked whether he did it for the reward, Wu said, "Not really. I sent one such bill sticker to the police substation before."
Four other people also received rewards the first day. Two senior citizens, Wang Hui and Wang Zhijun, sent in 58 and 120 advertisement bills respectively, while two staff members of Tiancun community committee detained one of the illegal footmen whose work has been described as "psoriasis" on the city. Both were awarded 200 yuan.
Till June 10, altogether 98 cases were reported. Twelve cases of distributing and 62 cases of posting were reported with 64,914 copies handed in. Fourteen billstickers were turned in to the office. A total of 19,889.20 yuan of awards had been issued.
Beijing's municipal urban management bureau issued a document suggesting financial rewards to crack down on illegal advertising bills in 2003. The new method in Haidian district has made the regulation more practical.
"A special fund for the reward has been allocated by Haidian district government, and, if the scheme is successful, more money will be put into the fund," Zhang Guangjiu, director of the legal section of Haidian urban management contingent, said.
The director also emphasized that rewards for clues were just a tool to crack down on illegal bills and that the main goal was to crack down on law-breaking companies.
Residents are encouraged to call Beijing urban management bureau's hotline at 96310, or Haidian urban management contingent at 82669451, to report the clues.
"But we are not really advocating citizens to capture the billstickers themselves," Zhang said.
"We hope there's no physical conflicts between citizens and illegal billstickers. Residents should just follow or shadow them and call the urban management to report them."
Beijing News
(China Daily 06/13/2008 page6)
