Builder responsible for falling billboard

JAKARTA (JP): The building contractor which put up the billboard that collapsed killing a person and injuring four others was responsible for the accident, an advertising expert said Tuesday.

The advertising agency which put up the Ramayana department store billboard was not responsible for putting up the billboard, said Koes Poedjianto, the director of Binamark advertising agency, yesterday.

"The billboard construction is solely under the management of the contractor," Koes said.

He said government agencies which issued the permit for the billboard's construction should also be held responsible.

Koes was the Indonesian Association of Advertising Agencies' former chairman.

A storm which hit the city last Sunday broke the billboard which was at a shopping complex in East Jakarta. Strong winds also broke the antenna of a radio station in South Jakarta killing three people.

Expert from the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said tropical storms would continue until February, causing winds of up to 24 knots (40 kilometer per hour). (02)