LAHORE, July 16: The present system of auctioneering city advertising spots may lead to the demise of smaller advertisers and endanger up to 48,000 jobs, a gathering of 40 advertising groups told the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) on Wednesday.

The PHA is the body responsible for all outdoor advertising in Lahore – around 1,100 sites, including 600 attached to private buildings. Over the last month it has been conducting auctions at its key sites, at times leasing them for up to ten times the value of their values last year. The windfall means the PHA is not dependent on as high a number of advertisers as it had been in previous years.

Advertisers also expressed reservations at the PHA’s proposed ‘clear-up’ of cluttered areas, which may lead to a drastic reduction in the number of total sites. PHA Director-General Irfan Elahi earlier indicated that the number of advertising sites at Liberty Market could be cut down from 46 to four, for example.

At a seminar held here to discuss the situation, PHA’s director of marketing Sohail Bhatti listened to the advertisers’ complaints but held firm on the authority’s commitment to auction advertising sites as it is a provincial government directive.

A further demand by advertisers was for a ‘second-chance’ to amend signs which do not fall under the PHA rules and regulations, or to relocate them. Again, the request was denied. “There is no recourse for challenging a right of refusal,” Bhatti told Dawn. The new rules are far more stringent and govern dimensions of boards as well as their placing (for example on Mall Road all signs are to be placed on the same level), in order to lessen their impact on the city’s aesthetics.The PHA instead asked advertisers to take their grievances to the Punjab Outdoor Advertising Association, which may later schedule another meeting with the PHA’s private consultant R4 in order to find solutions.

Regulations regarding the placement of giant LCD screens were also discussed in the absence of LCD advertisers, some of whom are involved in a civil court case against the PHA. The authority had previously forced them to shut their screens pending a consultancy, while the advertisers applied for court orders so they could keep their screens switched on. The verdict of SS Advertisers, Al Rehman, and Waleed versus the PHA will be given on July 18 (Friday).