Petaling Jaya residents want the municipal council (MPPJ) to rethink a proposal to award a 15- year contract to a company that has already put up 72 billboards in the area.

Resident and prominent lawyer R Sivarasa said he could not understand the rationale for the council's decision.

He said the proposed concession for RM492,000 was a paltry sum for the entire concession period, as the total commercial outdoor advertising value is believed to be worth between RM50 million and RM100 million a year.

"They are giving away the concession worth tens of millions of ringgit per year in return for RM32,000. Isn't this corruption?" he said at a recent press conference.

This followed the submission of a memorandum to MPPJ chairperson Ahmad Termizi Puteh by the All Petaling Jaya Pro-Action Committee (Appac), a coalition of 30 groups that include residents' associations and NGOs.

Appac chairperson Edward Lee handed over the three-point memorandum to Ahmad Termizi at the lobby of the MPPJ office.

Other than the concession proposal, the memorandum contained demands for the disclosure of MPPJ's detailed accounts and revenue collected for various kinds of outdoor advertising. The coalition further wants MPPJ to hold dialogues to gather feedback on the proposal.

Asked for comments, Ahmad Termizi told reporters that he would alert the press when there are any developments on the matter.

"I'm very busy now. Give me some time to look through (this)," he said when pressed for a more definitive answer.

However, he declined to comment on a threat by Appac that it would lodge a police report against him, if he does not respond to the residents' demands within three days.

Lee later said residents are suffering the effects of uncontrolled and unplanned advertising that bring no benefits to the community.

Sivarasa also hit out at the Works Ministry for awarding a contract to Polydimension Sdn Bhd to build several pedestrian bridges and gantries in Petaling Jaya.

"We do not welcome any unplanned overhead bridges in PJ just for the sake of getting profit from billboards located on the bridges and gantries," he explained.