By Howard Walker, Staff ReporterTHE NATIONAL Works Agency (NWA) is planning to dismantle all the advertising billboards posted on light poles around the Corporate Area, which could cost Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSCo.) significant loss in revenues.
A senior NWA representative said JPSCo. is raking in $3 million per year, having rented out its light poles for advertising. However, the works agency officer said the utility company had done so without permission, noting that the money should have been going into the Government's coffers. The light poles sit on lands controlled by the NWA.
"We give them the right of use of our land. They are supposed to provide technical service to the people of Jamaica, not advertising," the source told The Gleaner.
"JPS is licensed to sell lights, not advertisement. Jamaica owns the land and the taxpayers are paying for those poles."
A meeting has been set for Wednesday to discuss the removal of the signs, he said.
Efforts to get a response from the JPSCo .management proved futile as the relevant officer was said to be off the island.
However, Ruthlyn Johnson of the communications department confirmed that the poles were rented out but could not say for how much.
"Those poles that don't have any lines on them are rented out to advertising agencies who in turn rent to other companies," she said.
The Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation, meanwhile, says JPSCo. has done nothing wrong, noting that the poles are the property of the utility company.
BREACH
"JPS has all the right to do what it wants," said Neville Ewers, billboard officer. "The post is the host, so JPS has all right," he said.
But the NWA representative charges further that the advertising companies are in breach of the terms and conditions under which they can advertise, which stipulate that the signs must be 100 yards from traffic lights and 100 yards apart from each other.
He said the light poles in question are about 30 yards apart and the medians in which they sit are less than 10 yards wide.
"We want you to drive and watch the road signs, not advertising signs," he said.
