Some 140 employees working for Bernama TV have allegedly been told to go on leave until further notice, as the company is unable to pay their wages, again .

About 30 Bernama TV (BTV) staff have lodged a complaint with the Labour Department.

 

Journalists working for the multilingual news station told Malaysiakini on condition of anonymity that they have not received their pay for January, and were last paid six weeks ago on December 24.

 

This comes just under two months after the company solved its last salary crisis, which went on for nine weeks, while another state TV station RTM is having trouble paying its temporary staff.

 

"We want to know why Bernama can't pay our wages... We have house loans, car loans, and rent to pay," one staffer told Malaysiakini on condition of anonymity.

 

"We were told that since this is the second time that we have lodged a complaint,, action may be taken if our wages are not paid," he added.

 

When contacted, an officer with the Labour Department confirmed this and said arbitration will take place as soon as possible.

 

Bernama general manager Zulkefli Salleh (right) could not be reached for comment.

 

Those who filed the complaint have now gone on emergency leave, as they can no longer afford to go to work.

 

They have also taken to social media to air their grievances, asking Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, Communications and Multimedia Minister Shabery Cheek and Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaludin to intervene.

 

One heart-tugging tweet reads: "Sorry mum, dad. Your pocket money this month is pending. They are keeping Bernama TV 's salaries to make pekasam (fermented fish). Please show us sympathy Shabery Cheek."

 

"When covering ministers, the media is at the front. Now that Bernama TV has fallen flat, I want to see which minister will come forward," reads another tweet which mentions Najib, Shabery, and Khairy.

Unpaid for nine weeks

 

Late last year, BTV staff went unpaid for nine weeks, after the station's manager said Bernama was unable to help out the privately-owned station.

BTV is owned by Bernama TV Synergy Sdn Bhd, which is 33 percent owned by the national newswire. The rest of Bernama TV Synergy is privately-owned.

The workers finally received their November wages on December 18, after Bernama secured funding to run the news channel "for months to come."

 

BTV is not the only government media facing financial trouble

 

National broadcaster  RTM  is also having problems paying its more than one hundred contract staff, who have allegedly been told that their full pay for December will only be given in March.

Meanwhile, Communications and Multimedia Ministry secretary-general Sharifah Zarah Syed Ahmad refused to comment on the delayed payment in both RTM and BTV.

 

“I know, I can’t (comment). Dear, I really cannot,” she responded after a signing ceremony for an information security management system.

 

Both RTM director-general Abu Bakar Ab Rahim and Bernama deputy editor-in-chief Mikhail Raj Abdullah, who were spotted at the ceremony, also refused to comment on the matter.