KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 — The government’s directive for all contracts to be awarded via open tender will not apply to production firms appointed by state broadcaster Radio Television Malaysia (RTM), Gobind Singh Deo told Parliament today

The communications and multimedia minister explained that Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng has agreed to grant the exemption to such firms following their meeting.

"The letter will be issued, if not already issued, to RTM to continue with such projects,” he said.

The Malaysian Film Producers Association previously complained that over 100 contracts between RTM and local production houses were terminated following the change of government.

MFPA president Norman Abdul Halim was reported as saying that all affected production houses had adhered to RTM’s programming fees beforehand.

It is understood that RTM pays between RM20,000 and RM25,000 for 30-minute shows, and in the range of RM40,000 to RM45,000 for one-hour programmes.

The agreements, made by the defeated Barisan Nasional (BN) administration, were initially cancelled after the Pakatan Harapan government announced that all government work must be awarded through an open tender system.

Gobind revealed he was approached by several artistes and production companies that explained to him why the concept of an open tender cannot be applied to production houses.

"They explained to me how a tender system cannot be applied to production houses involving filming process and such.

"I then sent a letter to the Ministry of Finance to ask for the exemption,” he explained.