Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) will proceed to remove all the 68 billboards belonging to SIGNAGE Inc in spite of a police report lodged by the latter against the municipal council.
The relationship between MPSJ and the billboard concessionaire turned sour after SIGNAGE Inc demanded RM4 million in compensation from the local council after 23 of its billboard structures were taken down by the Public Work Department.
Apart from rejecting the demand, MPSJ accused SIGNAGE Inc of failing to fulfill the contract obligation to build 60 bus and taxi stands and 20 pedestrian bridges in Subang Jaya.
Council president Adnan Md Ikhsan was reported as saying the 15-year concession agreement was in favour of the billboard company.
Speaking at a press conference after the MPSJ monthly full board meeting today, Adnan said the concessionaire’s billboards ranging from unipole, bus stop signs to overhead bridge signs will come down by next week.
“Of last night, we have taken down 15 of them,” he said.
He maintained that the council has no plans to appoint another billboard concessionaire as of yet; while stating that SIGNANGE’s actions of lodging a police report as ‘their right’.
Komunitikini understands that the local council implemented a billboard concession policy whereby the concessionaire will be given the right to erect billboards; and in return they must build a number of pedestrian bridges or bus stations for MPSJ.
Meanwhile, Adnan asserted that the land located next to KFC at Jalan Besar Seri Kembangan belongs to the land district office, and that actions should be taken against intruders.
He said the vendors and operators who were conducting their businesses on the land until a fire erupted in June 2009 will be relocated to the forthcoming “people market”.
He added that the council had donated RM500 to each business operator on the site following the fire.
A self-proclaimed owner of the land plot yesterday decried MPSJ of removing barricades of the place and barring his tenants from re-conducting their businesses after the fire.
The MPSJ councillor Tai Cheng Heng however rubbished the allegations, saying that the illegal operators should be grateful that they were not paying assessment fees or business license fees for the last 30 years.
“It is illogical to blame MPSJ for carrying out its duty,” he said.
The local council is planning to turn the land plot into a 20-lot parking space to ease the traffic congestion in the new village.
On the other hand, MPSJ will not accept any more support letters following an instruction issued by the Selangor State Government on September 27.
C. Khor
CJMY
