Company says billboard is for the community - The Star

Jul 18, 2008 By LIM CHIA YING

OUTDOOR advertising company Setia Media Sdn Bhd said the billboard depicting Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim at SS2, Petaling Jaya, was a form of community service.

Setia Media managing director Peter Tan said the billboard was meant to carry civic messages as a way of showing its support for the new state government.

Tan was responding to the article published by StarMetro yesterday (June 12) about the new billboard.

Residents felt the billboard glorified politicians and was a waste of money.

They wanted particulars like contact details of their elected officials posted on the billboards.

“I wish to thank the residents who alerted our company. I'll get my team to add the contact numbers,” Tan said.

He said the billboard was placed on a previously empty board, which was given to his company by the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) after being relocated from its original spot across a drain.

The company's deputy managing director Johnson Tan claimed the cost of billboards was fully sponsored by Setia Media.

He added that the company had also obtained approvals and licenses to put up some 20 billboards.

State local government committee chairman Ronnie Liu was quoted in yesterday's story as saying that the state government had not forked out a single cent for the billboard.

Johnson said if the company chances upon an empty board, it would try put up something after licenses have been approved.

“We hope to help the people have easier access to their state assemblymen or MPs especially in the case of emergencies,” said Johnson.