House urges govt to help reduce newsprint price
House urges govt to help reduce newsprint price
JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives has urged the
government to rescue print media from bankruptcy by helping bring
down the price of newsprint.
Aisyah Amini, who chairs House Commission I for politics,
security, defense and law, told a group of journalists and press
workers yesterday that the urgent measures required included
basing newsprint prices in rupiah and the scrapping of taxes
imposed on newsprint.
The commission received 25 representatives of the Indonesian
Press Solidarity Society who questioned the government's
indifference to endangered publications.
Aisyah, a United Development Party legislator, said the
newsprint price should be set in rupiah instead of U.S. dollars,
because the rupiah was the official currency here.
"We should have gathered newsprint producers, the Association
of Indonesian Newspaper Publishers (SPS) and the government for a
meeting to seek agreement on a rupiah-based price in the middle
of last month. The arranged date did not suit them, however," she
said.
Newsprint has soared to Rp 6,000 (60 U.S. cents) from below Rp
2,000 per kilogram because of the rupiah's collapsing exchange
rate against the U.S. dollar. An SPS report reveals that 70
percent of 283 publications in the country are threatened with
closure due to the cost of newsprint.
Aisyah said that Minister of Information R. Hartono promised
to consider the House's advice to exempt newsprint from import
taxes when they last met last week.
"The government would be wise to undertake the policy in order
not to violate our agreement with the International Monetary
Fund," Aisyah said.
She said the House shared the journalists' call for the
revocation of the virtual monopoly enjoyed by the country's
largest newsprint company PT Aspex.
"We urge the government to encourage more factories, learning
that the country has abundant natural resources needed to produce
newsprint. But our local newsprint companies prefer importing raw
materials because they wish to make a profit as quickly as
possible," Aisyah said.
The group of journalists demanded the government involve the
press in the distribution of newsprint and that the House
exercise its right to investigate possible monopolistic practices
and high-cost price fixing in the newsprint business.
They also asked the government to revoke the Press Law and its
subordinate regulations that allow press bans. (amd)