Billboard controversy a sign of administration's weakness

JAKARTA (JP): The recent controversial erection and subsequent removal of a Pepsodent billboard at a major thoroughfare in South Jakarta has, at least, highlighted the weaknesses of the city administration in regulating the mushrooming number of such giant ads in and around the capital.

It's crystal clear to those in the advertising business that the cost of erecting a billboard here is not as stated in the official list of charges as advertisers are required to fork out extra money, in other words bribes, to various officials to secure the permits to erect their advertisements.

The Pepsodent saga that made the headlines in many local newspapers here also revealed the alleged abuse of office committed by Ahmadin Ahmad, head of the City Planning Agency, who -- according to an executive of the advertising firm that erected the toothpaste billboard -- had received financial "compensation" from the company in return for Ahmadin's recommendation that the project be allowed.

Ahmadin, shortly after returning from an overseas trip, denied the allegation and, instead, vowed to bring the firm's executive to court for slander.

So, how could such a ridiculous situation arise in the nation's capital?

According to Ahmadin, he signed the recommendation as he thought that the site on Jl. Sisingamangaraja was not off-limits to billboards, as it later turned out to be, because there was already a giant billboard and two electronic billboards erected right across the busy street.

Moreover, he added, his recommendation was not a permit for the firm. The permit, he said, was issued by the City Revenue Agency.

Officials from the agency eventually took down the 10 meters by 20 meters billboard on Monday.

As usual, the government officials involved -- after denying any wrongdoing on their parts -- hastily vowed to make significant corrections regarding "lack of transparency" and the "improper handling" of the matter.

During an interview on Friday, the City Revenue Agency chief Deden Supriyadi admitted that although his office is at the tip of the pyramid of responsibility in the billboard matter, he personally didn't know the precise places in the capital where it was prohibited to erect billboards.

"All the data are kept by the City Planning Agency," he said.

"We therefore cannot say with certainty which billboards have been erected in prohibited places and which of them have violated the tax and height regulations," Deden explained.

He admitted that his office had just started to identify the problem and therefore badly needed the support of security officers to help them in imposing strict punishments against any offending advertising companies.

According to the City Revenue Agency, Jakarta is currently home to 27,171 billboards with a minimum size of 24 square meters.

Most of the giant ads are erected on privately-owned properties. Only 30 of them are sited at city-owned buildings and on city land, mostly at roadsides.

Billboards of a size of more that 24 square meters should be registered with both the city planning and revenue agencies, while those measuring between 24 square meters and six square meters in size should be registered with the local mayoralty's planning subagency.

Those of smaller size are registered with the district administration offices concerned.

According to City Bylaw No. 8/1998, which will only become effective on Monday in line with the issuance of Gubernatorial Decree No. 74/2000 on the bylaw's implementation details, tax is required to be paid on every billboard as well as a levy to the City Revenue Agency. The tax, for instance, is set at 25 percent of the "rental fee".

The Pepsodent billboard, which was still governed by the old regulation and was initially set to remain in place for a year, resulted in Rp 110 million in tax, a Rp 20 million levy, and another Rp 1.4 million in administrative fees being paid by the advertiser.

Under the old regulation, the tax was set at between Rp 4,000 and Rp 6,000 per square meter per day.

Under the new bylaw, details of which will be made public on Monday, the cost will depend on the location of the billboard.

The price of the rental fee for billboards on the city's main thoroughfare of Jl. Sudirman, for example, will be much more expensive compared to those erected on Jl. Prapanca in the Kemang area.

The final permit to erect a billboard will be issued by the City Planning Agency.

According to Deden, the current 38 sites on city-owned property would be increased to 163 sites as provided for in the new Gubernatorial Decree.

The new decree will also regulate billboards of a minimum size of 24 square meters that are to be sited on city-owned property.

Another gubernatorial decree will also be issued on Monday which will restrict the erection of billboards on city-owned properties other than the 163 sites stipulated, Deden said.

Under the new regulation, all of the city-owned sites will be put out to competitive bidding, and advertising companies that intend to participate in the bidding will have to deposit a bond.

However, the regulation will also allow bidders to obtain as many sites as they want.

Contacted separately on Friday, Ahmadin said 34 of the existing 38 spots would be available for inclusion in the upcoming bidding as the relevant permits were soon to expire.

Deden said: "To reduce the presence of brokers, the bidding will be open not just to advertising companies but also to firms that want to advertise their own products."

His office would also welcome inquiries from the public concerning further information on the billboard business. Such inquiries should be addressed to the City Revenue Agency office at Jl. Kebon Sirih No. 22, Central Jakarta.

"We will also implement a one-stop policy, meaning that the successful bidders will receive a package of permits and recommendations from my office, so that they won't have to go to other agencies," Deden said.

"The full procedure will be completed in less than 31 days," he guaranteed. (dja)