Billboards to come down

ADVERTISING companies that have erected billboards in Petaling Jaya after the March 8 general election have been ordered to remove the illegal structures.

Selangor State local government committee chairman Ronnie Liu wants the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) to take stern enforcement and legal action if necessary to implement the billboard freeze.

“I want the MBPJ to investigate the claims that numerous billboards have been indiscriminately erected by advertising companies. I also want to know who gave these companies permission to erect the billboards,’’ he told StarMetro yesterday.

Liu: ‘I want the MBPJ to investigatethe claims that numerousbillboards have been indiscriminatelyerected by advertisingcompanies

Liu was commenting on the front page story “Freeze fiasco’’ in StarMetro yesterday which reported that several new billboards had been erected in Petaling Jaya even after the Selangor government had imposed a freeze on billboards in the state.

StarMetro attempted in vain yesterday to contact officials of the MBPJ licensing and enforcement departments regarding the new billboards.

City councillor Derek Fernandez, however, spoke on behalf of the MBPJ.

“The unipole referred to by (Petaling Jaya Selangor Residents Association Coalition chairman) Liew Wei Beng is illegal. The MBPJ has received a letter from Kurnia Outdoor Sdn Bhd dated Aug 19 saying that it will repair the site they had dug up,” Fernandez said.

He said the MBPJ enforcement department had torn down the metal frame structure in March but the site was not patched up.

According to Fernandez, no structure permit or licence was issued by the MBPJ for the unipole.

He said the other newly-erected billboards were part of the 403 billboards previously approved but were not put up because of the billboard privatisation dispute between the MBPJ and a private company.

“They haven’t erected the structures yet, pending a decision. Their permits expire in December this year,” he said.

Fernandez said the previous administration had issued licences to the companies even though the firms had not obtained the temporary occupancy licences (TOLs), a requirement from the state government.

Under the current MBPJ guidelines, the council will apply for TOLs and then lease out the site to the companies to erect the signboards.

“The MBSJ has applied for TOLs for the 403 sites and if we find that the sites are suitable, we will grant them a planning permit and licence.

“We will stop issuing licences for billboards at unsuitable sites and remove them. Residents can also file objections if the sites are not suitable,” Fernandez said.

He said the issue would be brought up at the next meeting of the MBPJ sustainable development committee.

Liu, meanwhile, stressed that the Pakatan Rakyat state government’s decision to freeze the building of billboards had not been revoked.

“Hence, all the local authorities in Selangor, including Petaling Jaya and Subang Jaya, have been asked to resolve the issue of the existing billboards,” he said.

“The local councils must resolve the existing billboard issue before accepting applications for new ones,” Liu said.

“We will try to accommodate many of the existing billboards by legalising them, but those causing hindrance to motorists and obstructing traffic will be removed,’’ he said

Liu urged those wishing to erect new billboards to be patient and wait for the state to resolve the matter first.

According to Liu, almost 80% of the existing billboards in the state are illegal.

Liu said the state had already drafted new guidelines for billboards and those who wanted to put up new ones would be required to abide by them.