Europe: The historic city of Belgium of Bruges, beloved by the national and tourists alike, has launched a campaign to prevent urination in public places.
With striking posters in Bruges, the city council wants to clarify that this unsavoury practice in the city will not be tolerated. Although the fines for public urination are not small, with sanctions ranging from €80 to €350, depending on the place where the perpetrator is caught.
The timing of the campaign has raised a few eyebrows because the problem has been seriously reduced in the city over the previous two years.
Moreover, in the previous year, about 60 fines were issued, half the number that were handed out for the crime in 2020.
Meanwhile, as per the city council, this is because of the COVID-19-related restrictions when no events took place and individuals went outside much less. Now that all events are taking place again, the city council wants to take preventive action with the campaign.
Along with this, the campaign has also drawn the attention of the majority of individuals due to its amusing imagery and use of words. The posters read “dit p(l)ast niet,” meaning “this doesn’t fit,” but also means “unable to pee.”
“We have opted for a clearly visible image,” Prevention Councillor Mathijs Goderis said in a press release.
“You will also see big signs which read ‘Peed up, and you can get a fine.’ In this way, we try to bring a clear visual message to the streets and show that urination in the public space is absolutely unacceptable and will be prosecuted.”
Furthermore, the city has an overview of public toilets (both manned indoor toilets and urinals) on its council website.
