`TVRI' to lay off half its staff in Semarang
`TVRI' to lay off half its staff in Semarang
Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Semarang
State television station TVRI says it will be forced to shed
about half its 315 employees in the Central Java capital of
Semarang as it had been overstaffed for too long and was nearly
broke.
TVRI head in Semarang, Effendi Anwar, said Wednesday that many
of its staff were "just lazy". "They may be smart and capable but
what's the use if they are lazy."
He said that many of the employees were sent from other TVRI
stations in Java, and that Semarang needed only 150 employees.
"Semarang's TVRI must accommodate employees with low skills
from stations in Medan, Surabaya, Yogyakarta and Bandung," he
said.
No date had been set for the layoffs. Effendi said he was
waiting for guidance from TVRI's head office in Jakarta.
The layoff plan follows the government's decision late last
year to cease funding TVRI operations across the country.
Effendi said the government cut its funding to Semarang last
February. "We still haven't paid for our electricity and diesel
since January. The bill amounts to some Rp 250 million (about
US$28,000)."
He said TVRI's monthly operational costs in Semarang amounted
to about Rp 200 million. If the situation continued until July,
TVRI might have to cease broadcasting in Semarang, he warned.
Employees had not been paid their daily food allowances to
save TVRI Rp 37 million a month, he added.
He hoped the Central Java government would pay the Rp 200
million it had earlier promised to keep the station afloat in
Semarang.
The financial difficulties are shared by other TVRI stations
across the country after the government cut funding in February.
TVRI in Medan ceased operations last month, but was able to
resume only after the North Sumatra government injected Rp 1.15
billion into the station.
In April 2002, the government decided to convert TVRI from a
social service corporation to a limited liability company.
Consequently, TVRI no longer receives funding from the state
budget. The conversion has yet to be completed but the government
has already began to slash funding since last February.