Two-thirds of billboards illegal: Official

Two-thirds of billboards illegal: Official

JAKARTA (JP): Almost two-thirds of the current 27,171
advertisement billboards erected at several places in the capital
are without proper permits or with expired permits, an official
said on Monday.

The City Revenue Agency chief Deden Supriyadi said 805 of the
18,854 "problematic" billboards would be brought down soon since
they were erected without any permits at all.

"The rest of the billboards have been on display with expired
permits, of a different size than stipulated in the permits or
placed at restricted areas," Deden told journalists.

According to Deden, some of the billboards had even been
around illegally for the last seven years due to the lack of
control and supervision of city officials in charge.

"This is the first time we are identifying billboard
violators. We have a very limited staff of 40 officers to make
on-the-field inspection of these advertisements." he said.

He said his office planed to bring down the 805 billboards as
soon as possible but admitted that because of the shortage of
staff they might not be able to meet the schedule.

According to data from the agency, some of the adverts that
will be brought down include the 96-square-meter billboard of
Sharp electronic on Jl. Batu Tulis Raya and four Lucky Strikes
billboards of different sizes on Jl. H.O.S. Cokroaminoto, all in
Central Jakarta.

Most of the giant adverts in the capital are erected on
privately-owned properties. Only 30 of them are erected at city-
owned buildings and on city land.

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

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

According to the City Bylaw No. 8/1998 and Gubernatorial
Decree No. 74/2000 a tax and a levy is required to be paid to the
City Revenue Agency for every billboard. The tax, for instance,
is set at 25 percent of the "rental fee".

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 tax will depend on the location of the billboard.

The city administration had prepared Gubernatorial Decree No.
133/2000 naming the 163 sites on city-owned property allowed for
billboards with the minimum size of 24 square meters.

Another Gubernatorial decree No. 281/2000 signed by Governor
Sutiyoso on Nov. 10 also issued on Monday, restrict the erection
of billboards on city-owned properties other than the 163 sites
stipulated in the above mentioned decree.

Under the new regulation, all 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 bid for as
many sites as they want.(dja)