13 Jun 2008

Samoa politician wants inquiry into privatization of public broadcaster

12:16 pm on 13 June 2008

The Samoa Democratic United party leader, Asiata Saleimoa Va'ai, has called for a commission of inquiry to investigate how the government handled the privatisation of public television and an FM radio station.

Asiata has alleged there was a conflict of interest between the government and the buyer, Quality Broadcasting Ltd, which last month paid just under one million US dollars for the stations.

The company has over twenty share holders, mainly former staff of Samoa Broadcasting Corporation, or the SBC, including the outgoing chief executive officer.

The SDUP leader is also asking why the Government last year set up a separate company to handle the privatization process.

The Prime Minister and Broadcasting Minister along with the outgoing CEO were the directors of this company.