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)