Billboard Met With Boos Surrenders to a Blow

Only a few hours after an advertisement was stretched across the first of the five massive billboards being erected across from Phnom Penh’s riverfront on Monday afternoon, heavy rain and strong winds ripped the plastic image in half.

The completion of the first 15-meter-tall, 50-meter-long billboard was met yesterday with grumbles from local business owners who criticized the massive structures for commercializing the view and potentially damaging property price on Chruoy Changva peninsula.

The billboard briefly advertised INAX, a Japanese bathroom supply company and Osaka-based Kansai Paint.

Kwan San, owner of Moon Media, which is renting the billboards out for roughly $70,000 a year, admitted that the project had met with initial setbacks.

“We’ve had some trouble with the billboard since installing it,” said Mr San.

Mr San declined to give any more details about the project, which will place advertisements for the mobile telephone service providers Hello, Mfone and Beeline on three more billboards.

“We were told by our boss at the Moon company to take down the rest of the advertisement because some of it got ripped last night by the weather,” said a construction worker tightening the bolts on the first billboard’s massive pylons yesterday afternoon. The worker asked to remain unnamed for fear of being fired.

Mr San also refused yesterday to say how much he was paying either Sok Kong, the owner of the Sokimex Group and the land on which the billboards will stand, or the municipality, which granted the company a license to erect the massive ads.

Mr Kong could not be reached for comment yesterday. His assistant hung up repeatedly on a reporter.

Chruoy Changva commune chief Pich Saroeun said yesterday that authorities on the peninsula were not consulted by the municipality before it granted Moon Media the license to build the planned 3,750 square meters of billboards.

“The company never consulted with local authorities, but talked to the municipal authorities, who we will call if there is a problem,” said Mr Saroeun.

Mr Saroeun added that he suspected wind would continue to be a problem and feared that “it might fall down on visitors during the water festival.”

Reached yesterday afternoon, deputy municipal Cabinet chief On Neang said he was confident in the strength of the billboards.

“We are not afraid that it will fall down,” said Mr Neang. “The installment of these billboards is just to help beautify the city.

Mr Neang said he would not comment on how much Moon Media paid to get a license for the billboards.

Yesterday evening, the finished billboard remained blank as workers welded together the thin metal facades of the three other billboards currently under construction.

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