City takes down another billboard

The Jakarta Revenue Agency removed another unlicensed billboard from along Sedyatmo toll road on Friday.

"We took down one billboard as ordered by Governor Sutiyoso, and my subordinates are now checking along the toll road for more illegal billboards," agency head Deden Supriadi announced at City Hall.

The removed billboard belonged to PT Rainbow Cipta Utama.

Another billboard was taken down earlier this week.

Deden refused to say how many billboards had been erected along the toll road, but at least 240 mangrove trees have been cut down to make billboards more visible to motorists on the toll road, including one promoting Samsung products and housing developer PT Palem Lestari.

The illegal felling made headlines and irked Sutiyoso, since the mangroves were part of the Angke protected forest in Kapuk, North Jakarta.

A joint investigative team of the agriculture and forestry agency and the Jakarta Police are quizzing three companies, namely: toll road operator Jasa Marga, PT Rainbow Cipta Utama and PT Mandara Permai over the illegal felling of mangroves.

Jasa Marga claimed earlier that it owned the areas along the toll road, while the city administration insisted that the management of forested areas had been transferred to the city agriculture and forestry agency from the Ministry of Forestry in line with the Regional Autonomy Law. -- JP