The ruling Awami League has started removing publicity posters highlighting the successes of the incumbent government that recently covered the city’s billboards.
Visiting different parts of the capital on Monday, this correspondent found that billboards at Moghbazar already were cleared, while posters were being removed from Mirpur, the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel intersection and Motijheel areas. Most of the empty hoardings were found displaying “for rent” signs seeking advertisements.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reportedly told a cabinet meeting on Monday that her party had a week’s permission to use the billboards and work has underway to remove the posters.
However, the party’s move, which was made ahead of the next election campaign, hit billboard owners hard as businesses who had rented the advertising spaces cancelled their contracts.
Most of the owners said they faced huge losses as the companies refused to honour the contracts as their advertisements were removed during the lucrative Eid season.
“This is not a new practice. After the government won the maritime boundary dispute with Myanmar a few years ago, we faced the same problem. Chhatra League, Jubo League and even Krishak League (AL affiliates) grabbed many billboards at that time,” a billboard owner said, seeking anonymity.
He also said billboards were occupied in the past by party activists on commemorative dates like August 15, 17 and 21.
“Political activists and leaders never think about how much money is involved in this business. They do not know the amount we have to pay every day for renting a billboard,” said a businessman, also requesting anonymity.
According to unofficial counts, there are around 3,000 billboards in the capital. Some are owned by the Dhaka City Corporation, while others belong to private individuals or companies. For renting a billboard sized 6m by12m, a company generally has to pay around Tk600,000 a year. There are larger billboards at convenient locations around the city that cost around Tk1.5m a year to rent.
