Laos: Ministry Admits Flaws In National Newspaper Distribution Scheme

19 Apr 2010

The Information and Culture Ministry has admitted it failed in its plan to distribute newspapers to all districts and villages nationwide, despite a budget of 700 million kip (US$ 83,000).

The admission came in response to concerns raised through the public hotline at the last sitting of the National Assembly.

One Vientiane resident asked relevant sectors to clarify where the 700 million kip had gone, claiming the newspaper distribution plan had not been put into action.

Deputy Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Bouangeun Saphouvong, recently responded to the claims, saying the newspapers had been distributed, but failed to reach all districts and villages due to an insufficient budget.

He said it cost more than 17 million kip per day to distribute the newspapers nationwide. The deputy minister added that the concept was to distribute only to districts and villages, not to individual family units. With the limited budget, the ministry was only able to circulate the papers for six months.

“We distributed to district administrative offices, who were then expected to hand them on to village authorities,” Mr Bouangeun said. “It doesn’t mean distributing to all people individually, but rather to village authorities or the village Party unit.”

He said a lesson could be taken from Vietnam, where government organisations contribute funds to lessen the burden on the central government.

“I think distributing newspapers for free is not an effective mechanism considering Laos is still a developing country,” he said.