DCCs didn't follow billboard rules

Neither of the two Dhaka city Corporations has followed rules while giving approval to hundreds of billboards leading to today's dirty look of the capital city, the Outdoor Advertising Owners Association (OAOA) leaders said at a press conference yesterday.     

"Both the corporations gave approval to billboards over the years in violation of rules," said Md Mizanur Rahman, office secretary of the association, replying to journalists' questions after the conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity.     

The mess of unregulated hoardings was created over the years, and the corporations have to clear those in phases, not in an arbitrary manner in one go, he said, referring to Dhaka south and north city corporations' recent move to remove scores of the unauthorised billboards.    

Any arbitrary move will render many genuine investors bankrupt, he said.

According to records, the two city corporations have so far approved around 1,000 billboards though there is a lack of space for those, he said.

In addition, the Roads and Highways Department, Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB), the railway authorities and private building owners have rented out spaces and rooftops for billboards without permission from the relevant authorities.

In all these cases, the city corporations are also losing taxes, said Mizan.

The onus of the city corporations' failure to reign in the illegal billboard business is on themselves," he said. "Genuine businessmen should not suffer for authorities' failure and irregularities."             

"All billboards stand illegal if the city corporations' advertisement rules are considered," said OAOA General Secretary Md Rashed, after reading out a written statement.     

The OAOA leaders demanded phasing out of the unipoles instead of a wholesale crackdown.

BM Enamul Haque, chief executive officer of Dhaka City South Corporation, said the OAOA leaders raised the allegations because they were aggrieved.

He claimed that they did not flout rules, adding that they had the capacity to remove at most three billboards each night.