Over BD40m unpaid ads to govt detected

Manama : More than BD40 million of unpaid commercial advertisements to the government have been detected lately, according to an investigative parliamentary committee.

Committee head MP Jamal Buhassan said yesterday that “reports showed that the amounts are unmet advertisements costs, which should be borne by foreign advertisement companies and paid to the government.”

“This waste of money and the detected missing amounts are considered an unacceptable corruption and flagrant squandering of public money. This is majorly the responsibility of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry,” Buhassan stated.

The lawmaker’s statements followed a panel meeting held yesterday at the Parliament House. He also said that “the advertisement field in the country is faced by many challenges and obstacles that are hindering the development of this market, which is currently incapable of competing with the other markets in the region.”

“One of the main issues of this market is the lack of a law that regulates the advertisement field and the people working in it. Plus, there’s no specialised directorate to monitor violations. Municipal councils lack the clear mechanism to observe the illegal activities in advertisement field,” Buhassan added.

The committee discussed several other matters including the withdrawal of MP Fatima Al Asfoor from the panel and the replies to the committee’s queries from municipal councils and the Industry, Commerce and Tourism Ministry.