JEDDAH, 4 September 2007 — The Transport Ministry and Jeddah Municipality are in conflict over the jurisdiction of issuing permits for street billboards in Jeddah, resulting in around SR197 million worth of investments being put on hold while the two government bodies resolve the matter.
Municipality officials said they have been placed in a difficult position with angry investors complaining that they have been prevented by the Transport Ministry from putting up billboards.
“It’s not a new thing, it has been going on for quite some time,” said a municipality spokesman. “We are working on resolving the matter,” he added.
The Transport Ministry has prevented a number of advertising investors carrying municipality permits from putting up billboards on inner road intersections and highways leading in and out of Jeddah. The Transport Ministry argues that issuing permits is its jurisdiction and not that of the municipality.
The municipality, on the other hand, claims that the permits are for setting up billboards in residential areas, which fall under its jurisdiction.
Sources say the dispute has reached high levels of authority. In a letter sent to the Director of Roads and Transportation in the Makkah Region Mufrih Al-Zahrani, Jeddah Mayor Adel Fakieh requested the Transport Ministry not to prevent investors from installing billboards to maintain the municipality’s revenues.
Fakieh wrote that if the Transport Ministry has objections then they should raise them with the municipality and not with the advertisers, who carry municipality permits.
The letter was sent following a growing number of complaints received by the municipality.
Responding to the letter, Al-Zahrani said that the municipality needs to consult the Transport Ministry on the matter and if the municipality fails to do so then the ministry would continue to prevent investors from putting up billboards.
“There is the question of where the jurisdiction lies,” said Adel Ismaeel, deputy manager at Tihama Advertising, Public Relations and Marketing. “They are not clear, even to municipality officials themselves,” he added.
Thirteen advertising companies are suffering because of the conflict between the two departments and, according to recent media reports, annual investments of around SR197 million are on hold. Municipal officials were unavailable for comment.
