T

he Jakarta administration will issue a gubernatorial decree to ban billboards with advertisements installed on elevated pedestrian bridges, following the collapse of a pedestrian bridge in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, on Saturday.

Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama revealed on Monday his administration was preparing the decree, saying that all pedestrian bridges in the city should be built like those near the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta.

For safety concerns, Ahok said the bridges should be open with no walls of advertising that could halt the wind stream.

“In the past, the bridges were built in cooperation with private companies. There will no longer be billboards with advertisements installed on elevated pedestrian bridges in the future,” he said as quoted by beritajakarta.com, adding the ban would be implemented gradually as some advertisement contracts had yet finished.

The bridge collapse, which killed three residents of Depok, West Java, and injured several others, was believed to have happened due to the bridge’s old age and the weight from the advertisement installed on it.