DBKL Spent RM3 Million Just To Take Down Illegal Banners And Buntings Last Year
Apparently, most of the illegal banners and buntings advertise loan shark services and adult toys.
By Samantha Khor — 21 Nov 2017, 06:49 PM
By January next year, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) will move to revoke the business license of companies who continue to put up advertisement and posters illegally on lamp posts and traffic lights in the city
Mayor of Kuala Lumpur Tan Sri Mhd. Amin Nordin Abd. Aziz said that DBKL will issue the offending company a show-cause letter before proceeding to revoke its business license immediately if the conditions are not complied with
"Each day, hundreds of illegal posters and commercial advertisements such as loan shark ads are put up everywhere. They disrupt the scenery and image of Kuala Lumpur, whereas this does not happen in countries like China and Thailand,” he told reporters in a press conference today, 21 November.
"There will be no more compromise. Regardless of whether the company is big or small, action will be taken," he added.
The mayor also revealed that DBKL spent RM3 million on manpower, operation, and overtime costs last year to take down illegal banners and buntings around the city
"Despite our best efforts to take down illegal ads, it's a never-ending battle and we have continued to bear high operations costs," Mhd. Amin Nordin said, adding that they remove thousands of ads each day.
According to a report by The Star earlier this year, the top three offenders are loan sharks, ads advertising adult toys and sexual enhancements, followed by realtors and developers.
Earlier this year, DBKL executive director Datuk Ibrahim Yusoff revealed that they have also cancelled mobile numbers displayed on illegal ads through the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC)
“We cancelled mobile numbers through the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), and messaged the offenders asking them to take down the banners.
“We even held meetings with the offenders, and those who were brave enough to turn up for our hearing merely pleaded ignorance and innocence claiming that the agents or the promoters hired to put up the banners were at fault,’’ he said.
According to The Star, DBKL brought down 958,405 "unsightly" materials last year, compared to 1,340,000 in 2015.