PETALING JAYA: Starting Oct 1, the public can obtain information regarding outdoor advertisements in Petaling Jaya through its E-Outdoor Advertising system.
The first of its kind in the country, the system will give details of every outdoor billboard in the city.
It will also incorporate a GPS mapping system which will locate any billboard to check on its validity and status.
The system was recently launched at Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) by mayor Datuk Mohamad Roslan Sakiman.
It was witnessed by residents' associations representatives, billboard operators, councillors and the members of the media.
Deputy Director of Planning Department Zain Arly Abdul Rahman said, at present, all legal billboards are required to display a green "Plate A" below the billboard.
The plate will contain details of the billboard owner and the licence number. However for billboards which do not pose a danger to the public but are located at unsuitable sites, they will be given "Plate B".
Roslan said the billboards with "Plate B" will remain where they are until Dec 31 next year. They will be moved to a suitable location after the expiry date.
Councillor Derek Fernandez said the reason several billboard sites were awarded Plate B was because the operators had received approval for the sites before the new billboard guidelines were introduced.
"The operators had received approval for the installation of the billboards before the new guidelines were introduced.
"So the council has decided to allow the billboard to remain at their present location until December next year. After that, the billboards need to be shifted to more suitable sites," said Fernandez.
Fernandez also said all billboards which do not have the council's approval are termed "illegal billboards", based on the suitability of the site, and the billboard agreement.
"If the billboard site is legal, but the operator breaches the billboard guideline, it will be considered illegal," said Fernandez.
The council said there were 85 illegal billboards in the city. It has issued notices for 61 of the illegal billboards and 34 have been removed.
The council has yet to determine whether the 29 billboards located in the Federal Highway is on state land or under the highway concessionaire.
All Petaling Jaya Selangor Resident Association Coalition (APEC) president Johan Tung said he welcomeed the E-Outdoor Advertising system.
Tung requested that the council included the rental rates paid by each billboard operator. The mayor agreed to the request.
Referring to a question raised by the media on why the number of illegal billboard often differs, councillor Latheefa Beebi Koya said the council will not be able to have the precise number of illegal billboards in the city.
She compared the act of placing an illegal billboard to the crime rate.
"Just like crime, there will always be new incidents. It is the same with the billboard issue, as there will always be new illegal billboards coming up," she said.
The mayor also said the council will only allow a maximum of 420 billboards to be erected on state land in PJ. There are 357 billboards on state land in PJ.
The website for E-Outdoor Advertising is eiklan.mbpj.gov.my:8008/mapguide/iklan which goes online from Oct 1.
Source: http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/4bil/Article/index_html
