KUALA LUMPUR: Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo says the new Bernama CEO would be announced pending the government's decision over the proposed merger between the national news agency and RTM.
"There is no decision yet as we are in the process of considering a merger between RTM's news sector and Bernama," he said at the Digital Transformation Asia Forum here on Tuesday (Nov 13).
He said if a merger does happen between the Government-owned news agencies, naturally a team would be formed to carry it through.
"It is something quite large and will involve corporate restructuring and getting a team of people to see it through," he said, adding that he has come across many different models of such mergers.
He said the Ministry is in the midst of putting up a proposal to the Cabinet and will only decide on Bernama's CEO once a decision is reached.
He also said he has spoken to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and will meet him soon to discuss the matter.
It was previously speculated that Wan Hamidi Hamid, who was the former editor-in-chief of DAP mouthpiece The Rocket, would replace former Bernama chief Zulkifli Salleh.
However, former culture and information minister Tan Sri Rais Yatim had said that he was not in favour of Wan Hamidi being appointed to the position, claiming that this would politicise the news agency.
Recently, Wan Hamidi Hamid said that he would not be appointed as the new Bernama CEO.
"I have been informed that I would not be appointed as the Bernama CEO. This is despite being initially offered, persuaded and convinced to accept this job at the national news agency," he said on a Facebook post on Monday (Nov 5).
On a separate matter, Gobind said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is set to solve the payment dispute between MYTV Broadcasting Sdn Bhd and TM Bhd.
"MCMC is in the process of looking for a solution and they will announce their decision in a week or two," he said.
Although Gobind said he was not privy to the discussions between MCMC and MYTV, he said they have identified the problem and are working to move forward.
It was reported that MYTV, a digital terrestrial (DTT) television service provider, owes TM over RM60mil for services rendered.
The debt resulted in MYTV services being disrupted in states like Sabah, Sarawak, Kelantan, Terengganu, Kelantan, Negri Sembilan and Melaka.
MYTV is a broadcast service provider and was selected back in 2014 to spearhead the national DTT rollout.
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