Departments and agencies under the Information, Communications and Culture Ministry in Sabah, particularly the broadcasting department, have been urged to provide fair coverage for all Barisan Nasional (BN) state and parliamentary representatives in the state.

Special duties officer to the ministry Mohd Nazri Abdullah said minister Rais Yatim was concerned that representatives in many areas in Sabah such as the islands and interior, did not get much coverage although they too were working hard for the people.

"We should not just broadcast news or images on the same persons. We have many elected representatives, ministers and assistant ministers who play an equally important role in developing the people," he said at the presentation of three cameras to the state broadcasting department's news and current affairs unit (BES) in Kota Kinabalu yesterday.

Earlier, broadcasting director-general Norhyati Ismail said Rais was aware of the department's need to be competitive and to remain on par or better than the private broadcasting stations.

She said the department was committed to producing quality programmes but with commercial value too.

- Bernama