State Loss Billions Of Rupiah, 151 Illegal Billboard Poles In Pekanbaru Dismantled

The process of forcibly dismantling 151 illegal billboards in Pekanbaru City. (Antara/HO-Satpol PP Pekanbaru)

PEKANBARU - A total of 151 billboards without a permit in Pekanbaru City, which has been causing billions of rupiah to lose to the region, have been demolished. The illegal billboard poles that clawed at the sky several local protocol roads were unoccupied and were installed without paying taxes to the Pekanbaru City Government.

"Yesterday we started to dismantle seven billboards from the 151 unlicensed poles", said Head of the Pekanbaru City Advertising Team, Zulhelmi Arifin, who is also the head of the local Bapenda, quoted from Antara, Wednesday, March 9.

Zulhelmi said that this control was carried out by a team which was a combination of the Regional Revenue Agency (Bapenda), the Investment Service and One-Stop Integrated Service (DPMPTSP), the Environment and Forestry Service (DLHK), the Transportation Service, Civil Service Police Unit, Ministry of Public Works and Housing Service and City Regional Financial Management Agency.

While the basis for controlling these illegal billboards is Regional Regulation Number 4 of 2018 and the Regional Regulation on Building Permits. "Yesterday we started to dismantle seven billboards from the 151 unlicensed poles", said Zulhelmi.

The seven poles that have been dismantled are located on Soekarno-Hatta Street, Jenderal Sudirman Street, and Imam Munandar Street. "Today we will continue", he said.

Zulhelmi said that this control was an effort to close the leakage of advertisement tax revenue that had occurred so far due to the actions of illegal actors who installed without taking care of a permit.

In addition, the control is also an effort to beautify the city of Pekanbaru, whose existence has been considered a lot of visual waste that spoils the city's scenery.

"Let's call this visual waste, we will organize it to maintain the beauty of Pekanbaru City", he explained.

The control of the billboard poles will take place in stages until the 151 illegal poles are completely dismantled.

Previously, the Pekanbaru City Government also intended to conduct an auction of several illegal billboards to avoid forcible revocation.

There are four categories of illegal billboards, namely, those that have permits and pay taxes. Second, billboards that have permits and do not pay taxes. Third, the billboard pole does not have a permit and pays taxes, and the fourth is unlicensed and does not pay taxes.

"So for the first step, we will control the category four billboard poles, not licensed and not paying taxes", he said.