TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Illegal billboards in Bekasi have been predicted as the cause of the city’s declining tax income from the sector. Until December 2014, the city had just collected Rp23 billion (US$1.9 million) or about 60 percent of the target at Rp40 billion (US$3.3 billion).

Bekasi City Head of Parks, Cemetery and Road Lighting Agency, Karto, said he will immediately conduct an operation to deal with the illegal billboards. The agency is targeting several spots, including those at Jalan KH Noer Ali, Jalan Raya Galaksi, Jalan Raya Pekayon and Jalan Raya Bintara. So far, the agency had found 260 illegal billboards, including those with expired permits.

The Bekasi City administration, Karto added, will also rearrange the billboards positioning for the sake of order. Karto revealed that there are about 7,182 private billboards and 48 others owned by the city.

The city council’s member Haeri Parani regretted the declining tax income from billboards due to its huge potential.

“The city administration should have been assertive and thorough,” he said.

Haeri also asked the government to regulate the billboard positioning, by clearly mapping spots allowed as billboard locations.

ADI WARSONO