KSAC Urges Compliance with Billboard Requirements

The Kingston & St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) is requesting advertising companies and businesses in the Kingston Metropolitan Area  (KMA) that utilize signs and billboards, to contact them immediately to ensure that they are compliant with the requirements and for the Council to update its database.

Deputy Mayor  of the KSAC, Andrew Swaby; Town Clerk, Robert Hill, and members of the KSAC’s  revenue and building team carried out a re-verification exercise in East Kingston on April 15, to determine the compliance rate among advertisers.

“We are now beginning to verify what is actually on the ground and what is on the books,” Mr. Swaby said. Approximately 20 per cent of the KSAC’s own source revenue comes from signs and billboards.

Mr. Swaby told journalists during the tour that discussions from a recent stakeholders meeting led to the streamlining of the KSAC’s operations. This included simplifying the process for placing signs and billboards, introducing a standardized fee structure and publishing all plans for signs and billboards on the Council’s website.

Treasurer at the KSAC, Nordia Crosskill, said the compliance rate for signs and billboards has been very low. She said the Corporation was only able to collect 75 per cent of the required funds from signs and billboards last financial year.

“Having recognised that this compliance rate has been low for such a long time, we are putting things in place to ensure that this rate goes up and that the citizens of the municipality are safe and the aesthetics improved and maintained,” she added.

Meanwhile, Mr. Swaby said that a public education campaign began in January 2013 that included advertisements in the electronic and print media; distribution of over 10,000 brochures and also  visits to more than  3,000 businesses by a compliance team to educate persons about the requirements for signs and billboards.

Advertising companies and businesses may visit the KSAC’s website at: www.ksac.gov.jm to download the checklist and application form for signs and billboards. Pre-consultation services can also be accessed at the KSAC’s newly upgraded customer service lounge at 24 Church Street in Kingston.

There is a minimum turnaround time of five days for the approval of applications for signs and billboards at the KSAC.