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Executives of Fiji Television Ltd have met with the South Pacific Stock Exchange over the implications of the Media Industry Development Decree’s shareholding requirements, the company has announced.
A statement from Fiji TV Ltd today said that its board had met to discuss the impact of the media decree on its business.
The statement said the business was already in compliance with some of the parts of the decree.
Chairman Isoa Kaloumaira said that senior executives and managers had met with the South Pacific Stock Exchange to “address the shareholding requirement with regards to citizenship and residency of Fiji TV Ltd’s shareholders and also on other provisions that impact its business”.
Company officials were not willing to comment further.
Under the decree, directors of media organisations in Fiji must have lived in Fiji for three out of the seven years prior to the company’s registration with the Media Industry Tribunal and thereafter residing in Fiji for at least six out of 12 months in a year.
Anyone that does not meet the requirements will have to sell their shares within three months of the decree coming into force.
The decree was enacted two weeks ago.
Fiji TV is listed on the South Pacific Stock Exchange and is the only other publicly-listed media organisation in Fiji apart from radio giant Communications Fiji Ltd, which also said last week that it was studying the decree and would comment afterwards.
The Fiji Times newspaper which is owned by Australia’s News Ltd is studying its options in light of the decree’s requirement that media organisations be 90 percent locally owned.
By Richard Naidu
