The appointment of Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd (UMMB) as the marketing agent for state-owned Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) is not just a business venture but also done in the “national interest”.

Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim, who witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two agencies, said the alliance was in the interest of news coverage.

“It should not be perceived in the context of making money alone,” he said in a speech at the signing ceremony.

rais yatim pc 020709 02 Speaking off-the-cuff, Rais ( left ) also said the deal was to be regarded as a “noble cause” because Utusan was collaborating with the government to enhance the use of Bahasa Malaysia as the national language.

He noted that the ministry had also taken into consideration Utusan’s efforts in matters pertaining to the social contract signed by the country’s forefathers, as well as Articles 152 and 153 of the Federal Constitution on the special position of the Malays.

The government network has collaborated with UMMB on the sale of advertising airtime on radio since 2006, and since 2007 for television advertising airtime sales.

The 2009 Auditor-General’s Report, which was published last year, reported various instances of misconduct in the implementation of the contract.

The report said the Finance Ministry had approved the appointment of UMMB and according to the contract, the company had to achieve a minimum target of RM70 million in television airtime sales and RM13 million for radio airtime sales.

NONE “An audit conducted between July and November 2009 revealed several weaknesses, such as the advertising airtime sales performance not meeting the target,” the audit report stated.

The report also highlighted conflicts between the terms of the contract and the government’s offer letter on the commission payment schedule, and that several rules applying to airtime advertising sales had not been observed.

The audit report had recommended that the appointment of such agencies should be done by way of an open tender to allow competitive bidding and advised the ministry in charge to monitor the advertising airtime sales activities closely to increase revenue from the sales, among others.

Ministry satisfied with Utusan’s performance

Responding to this, Rais said although there were parties that had suggested open bidding for the contract, the ministry, which overlooks RTM, was satisfied with UMMB’s performance despite its failure to achieve the targeted revenue.

“These negotiations were made after we saw aspects of the possibilities that we can achieve. The revenue achieved by Utusan from 2006 to 2009 for radio was satisfying and for television from 2007 to 2009, we achieved RM75 million,” he said.

“Therefore, we felt we must give the opportunity for Utusan to continue its work. I am also confident that it will be monitored better and satisfactorily to both parties,” Rais said, adding that a monitoring committee would be set up right after the Chinese New Year holidays.

Asked how often the committee would monitor the progress of the agency in selling advertisement airtime, he said:  “Every week they should meet and decide on the capacity of Utusan’s achievement. We are confident that this can be improved.”