Advertising stakeholders call for upgrades to KSAMC signage regulations

KINGSTON, Jamaica — IPrint Group of Companies Chairman Steven Steele has called for amendments to the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) 1978 signage regulations, arguing that the decades-old rules are outdated and do not reflect modern advertising technologies.

“We are in 2026, a lot of years have passed so a lot of these regulations really need to be upgraded…in terms of road infrastructure, population growth, growth in cities, just growth on a whole,” Steele said following a meeting held with stakeholders and the KSAMC about the regulation of outdoor signage in Kingston.

Also present was Managing Director of Signtex and President of the Outdoor Signage Association of Jamaica, Raul Duany, who acknowledged that signage is necessary for businesses and individuals to reach their audiences.

However, Duany also noted, “Some of these have been blatantly put up without any authority, some areas have become sterile over time where signs were probably approved in the past.”

Acknowledging that the signage, which was supposed to be unobtrusive, had now begun to form clutter on the roadways, Duany welcomed the meetings as a space for collaboration and a possible driver of legislative change.

Likewise, Steele commended the meetings as an excellent way to collaborate going forward. He also expressed support for the KSAMC’s ongoing enforcement drive for the protection of the signage industry.

“The proper maintenance of the industry is important, and I think that is the primary interest of the mayor. The only problem I have is if the justice is meted out unevenly, and that does not seem so,” he said.

For his part, Kingston Mayor Andrew Swaby noted that the meeting was the first of what will be quarterly meetings and shared that the stakeholders in attendance seemed genuinely invested in fixing the issues in the industry.