Incompetent Local Councils

Today’s Star has a very interesting story about phantom billboards that indicate one or more of the following:

1. Council officers are blind, as they cannot see the illegal billboards
2. Some are corrupt for allowing these unsafe and unlicensed structures to remain
3. Some are incompetent, as they are not able to verify the billboards’ design

This is not rocket science and shows how poorly appointed local councils are serving the public.
The laws should be changed so that landowners are held responsible for all illegal structures and also all applications must have a registered engineer’s seal with respect to safety standards.
To ensure the timely approval of applications, all applications are considered approved two months after submission unless the council rejects in writing the application on specific grounds.

It is a national scandal that Petaling Jaya has only 42 approved billboards and 500 unlicenced ones.