Islands Business - Fiji Times refused extension, Media decree amended

SUVA, Fiji (FBCL) ----- The Fijian administration has refused request by the country’s longest serving newspaper the Fiji Times for an extension to sell the company. Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum said Fiji Times had asked for more time as the cut off date for the expressions of interest had closed last week. Mr Khaiyum said the media decree is quite clear that all media companies established in the Fiji must be ninety percent local owned. “Fiji Times had asked for an extension in the three months, they said they wanted to sell their business and that extension has been refused because that goes towards the essence of the decree and so Fiji Times still has the 28th of September 2010 to comply with the provisions of the decree.” Mr Khaiyum said that the Fiji Times will close down if it does not comply with the Media Decree cut off date. “The organization need to comply with the media decree so the decree is quite specific, so if you do not comply with the decree that you business is closed down.” Meanwhile, amendments have been made to Fiji’s Media Decree to exempt a number of persons, and organizations from various provisions of the decree. Those exempted from provisions of the decree include government or statutory bodies, schools and universities that have websites and others as stipulated in the amendment. Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said those exempted will not have to apply for registration of their businesses or websites, and the exemptions will be made by the Prime Minister who is also the Minister for Information. “What the decree does is that it moves a step further in the sense that it gives the Prime Minister the powers to exempt the application of the decree to certain organisations in the first place. For example some schools who have a website who may have a newsletter - so they may say oh we fall under the decree so we have to apply for the exemption, what this amendment does is to say - it does not apply to you in the first place.”