Sharing out the 'Tempo' family fortune

JAKARTA (JP): Tempo was noted, not only for the high standard of its journalism, but also for its high income. When the magazine was banned last year, its assets had reached about Rp 30 billion (US$13.51 million). And that's without counting the shares it had in several other publications, including Matra, Jawa Pos, Forum Keadilan, and in the book publisher PT Pustaka Grafiti.

After the banning, a percentage of Tempo's assets was distributed among its 350 employees as severance pay. The amount paid depended on the period of employment of each employee. Those who had been with the magazine for 10 years or more received up to Rp 20 million ($9,009), plus bonuses.

"And, in July, we are going to give back the 20 percent of shares owned by former Tempo staff," said Zulkifli Lubis, Tempo's vice director.

He said the only remaining part of the Tempo fortune was its library.

"We actually still have about Rp 3 billion owed to us. After the ban, people don't want to pay their debts to us," Lubis told The Jakarta Post.

That was a shame, Lubis reflected, considering that Tempo owed virtually nothing.

"The fact is that Bank BNI 46, which gave us a working capital loan, stopped the loan the moment they heard that we had been banned," Lubis added.

Currently, some former Tempo staff are still renting office space on Jl. Rasuna Said, South Jakarta, formerly the magazine's headquarters. In a couple of months they are going to move to a smaller office on Jl. Proklamasi, Central Jakarta. The library, too, will be moved there and will be open to the public. (als)