SUVA (PMW): The board of Fiji TV Ltd has expressed dismay and other news media groups have protested over the Fiji Immigration Department's refusal to grant a work permit for the newly appointed chief executive of Fiji TV, New Zealander Kenneth Clark.

Branding the act by the Fiji Labour Party-led coalition government as "immoral" and "draconian", news media have warned that the drive against expatriates in the country's news media will send "alarm signals to corporate offices".

In an editorial on 17 July 1999, the largest daily newspaper, the Murdoch-owned Fiji Times, said: "The government now stands guilty of double standards. The prime minister has one rule for the media and another for all other businesses - at least for now. Who will be the next target is anybody's guess.

"The government should concentrate on running the country instead of trying to run the media."

Claiming that the government thought it would be easier to control the media when expatriate executives had been expelled, the Fiji Times said: "This latest decision will send shockwaves throughout the region and the wider world."

It is understood that a list of about 20 expatriates in the media industry is the target of the present government. Last year, the previous government of coup leader Sitiveni Rabuka had two media educators of the Suva-based regional University of the South Pacific in its sights over work permits.

Clark, 59, a former chief executive of TV3, one of New Zealand's three national television networks, was appointed for a two-year contract by the board of Fiji TV, which has an exclusive television broadcasting licence in Fiji.

In the country on a two-week temporary permit, Clark was informed on July 16 by a letter from the Immigration Department that he was being denied a work permit.

He has been given nine days to leave the Fiji Islands by July 25.

According to the Immigration Department, Fiji TV failed to train a local person to succeed the former chief executive, another New Zealand, Peter Wilson, who is now publicity chief for the America's Cup.

However, the chairman of the Fiji TV board, Isoa Kaloumaira, was reported by the government-owned Fiji Daily Post on July 17 as saying that Fiji TV had provided appropriate training for local managers.

"Managers have attended New Zealand Institute of Management courses, professional seminars and expositions in Australia and the United States, travelled to the United Kingdom and Australia on Commonwealth broadcasting matters and have been involved with in-house training and on-the-job training on many occasions," he said.

Kaloumaira said that in spite of the extensive training, the board and the recruiting firm did not think that any of the four local applicants (out of 60 globally who applied for the job) were qualified to take the chief executive's role.

According to the Daily Post, Kaloumaira said that only one Fiji TV manager had applied for the role. However, he did not wish to take up the chief executive post and had only applied because he had been asked to do so.

"Mr Clark's successful professional broadcasting career extends over more than 35 years," Kaloumaira said.

"He has been active in radio and television in so many capacities as a performer, newsreader, master of ceremonies, programme producer, director, salesman and sales manager at several levels, general manager, company president, and chief executive officer."

Kaloumaira also said Fiji TV was a publicly traded company and its board of directors had an obligation to its shareholders to appoint the best possible applicant to become their chief executive.

The chairman has protested to the Assistant Minister of Information, Lekh Ram Vayeshnoi, and is seeking a meeting with Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry - who also holds the information portfolio - to consider approving a work permit for Clark.

The Fiji Television Staff Association is also reported to have written an appeal to the Prime Minister, asking him to reconsider the government's work permit decision.

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