Broadcasting bill deliberation starts<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives began re-
\ndeliberating yesterday the broadcasting bill that the government
\nrefused to enact after it was passed by the House last December.<\/p>\n
Representing the government in the unprecedented deliberation,
\nMinister of Information R. Hartono ushered in the processing of
\nthe bill by offering five key issues to be discussed by the
\nHouse.<\/p>\n
He suggested that the House drop an article from the bill that
\nwould allow state-owned television TVRI to air selected
\nadvertisements, and another that would allow private companies to
\nbuild TV stations in provincial capitals.<\/p>\n
Hartono also proposed an alteration to articles dealing with a
\nterm of license for private TV stations, span of coverage of TV
\nstations, and special broadcasting companies.<\/p>\n
\"The government has found that either the articles cannot be
\napplied to real business life or do not comply with other
\nregulations which have been made to help private broadcasting
\ncompanies develop,\" Hartono said.<\/p>\n
During his speech, Hartono made no mention of the government
\nplan to ban the use of dubbing in imported films. He told
\nreporters later that the bill had already ruled against the
\ndubbing of non-English language films into Indonesian.<\/p>\n
Some observers have said the re-deliberation was an
\nembarrassment to the House and a display of the legislative
\nbody's ineffectiveness before the executive branch.<\/p>\n
The House, pressed for time, named a team of 21 legislators
\nled by R.Y.K. Mukmin of the Golkar faction for the deliberation.
\nBoth parties agreed to meet seven more times between Aug. 29 and
\nSept. 10.<\/p>\n
The House is expected to pass the amended bill on Sept. 18,
\npending approval from the House's consultative body, according to
\nMukmin. Due to the limited time, the team might also hold
\nmeetings in the evenings, he said.<\/p>\n
Advertisements<\/p>\n
Hartono insisted that the government would maintain the ban on
\ncommercials from TVRI. He said if the state-owned station was
\nallowed to air even selected advertisements, it could threaten
\nprivate stations' income from commercials.<\/p>\n
The bill says TVRI's operational costs are paid by the annual
\nstate budget, contributions from all private TV stations and
\nother legal means.<\/p>\n
\"The problem is that (private companies') contributions and
\nselected commercials (on TVRI) come from the same sources,\"
\nHartono said.<\/p>\n
The government opposed the stipulation on the establishment of
\nstations at provincial capitals because they would either kill
\nlocal radio stations or lose out to competition with existing
\nstations whose span of coverage reaches remote areas in the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
The argument that regions in Indonesia may need specific
\nprograms was rejected by the government on the grounds that TVRI
\nmanaged to \"meet local people's needs for regional information\".<\/p>\n
As for a revision of the article which limits stations' span
\nof coverage to half of the country's population, Hartono said
\nmany people across the archipelago already receive programs
\ntransmitted by state-owned satellite Palapa.<\/p>\n
Besides, most existing private stations are now building
\nadditional terrestrial transmitters in various provinces, Hartono
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"Such a limitation would only cause an information gap between
\npeople, particularly information which promotes national unity.<\/p>\n
\"Rather than impose restrictions, we want to help private
\nstations expand their coverage to reach most of the country's
\npopulation,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Hartono said the government was also seeking House approval on
\nthe extension of the five-year term license given to private TV
\nstations, saying that the term was too short for companies to
\nfinancially break even.<\/p>\n
\"We would say a maximum of 10 years looks more appropriate,\"
\nhe said. (amd)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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