Broadcast bill debate goes into extra time

Broadcast bill debate goes into extra time

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives' debate on the
government's broadcasting bill has had to go into extra time
because of the growing number of issues involved, the head of the
committee handling the legislative piece said yesterday.

Abu Hasan Sazili said the bill would be enacted on Dec. 9,
Antara reported.

The House had originally hoped to do this yesterday.

Sazili, the deputy chairman of the House's Commission I which
deals with the flow of information, denied the delay was because
of disagreements about the bill's content.

All sides have been accommodating, he said.

The House has had to add more clauses because there are so
many issues the bill should cover, he said. The bill has grown
from 58 chapters to 75 chapters.

"This is extraordinary," said the member of the dominant
Golkar faction.

The addition includes items intended to regulate new
information technology such as the internet and multimedia,
Sazili said.

The bill is the first attempt to regulate Indonesia's
flourishing broadcasting industry through legislation. Currently,
the industry operates under government regulations.

Current regulations give state-owned TVRI a monopoly on
television although in the last five years the government has
licensed five private television channels.

The regulations also give TVRI a monopoly on television news
but private broadcasters have been running their own news as well
as relaying TVRI's official news.

The government said the new bill was intended to allow for the
industry's healthy development and deal with its negative
excesses.

Sazili said during the debate on the bill, the House proposed
the establishment of a supervisory council for the broadcasting
industry.

This council would comprise experts from various disciplines
and industry and government representatives, he said.

Another addition to the bill the House was seeking was the
requirement that all broadcasting companies issue some of their
shares to employees, Sazili said.

The employee share concept has already been implemented in
newspapers and magazines in compliance with the 1982 Press Law.
(emb)