60 years on, many Sumatrans still lack access to information
60 years on, many Sumatrans still lack access to information
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan
It has been 60 years since Indonesia proclaimed its independence,
but there are still many people in outlying areas of North
Sumatra who are yet to fully benefit from public information
services.
This fact was revealed in a seminar on the prospects and
licensing procedures of public broadcast services in Medan on
Thursday.
North Sumatra Information and Communications Agency head R.E.
Nainggolan said that amid the lively 60th Independence Day
celebrations, which should have united the province, a great
number of people were getting by without information from radio
or television services.
He said that people living in isolated areas not reached by
radio and television relays had missed out on seeing broadcasts
of Independence Day celebrations across the archipelago.
According to Nainggolan, the transmission problems faced by
many areas of North Sumatra were mostly technical as most of them
were situated along the Bukit Barisan mountain range.
"We are concerned because many of our citizens can only get
information from their respective village chiefs or local
newspapers. In general, they are left behind in terms of
knowledge because they're uninformed about national
developments," Nainggolan told The Jakarta Post after opening
the seminar on behalf of North Sumatra Governor T. Rizal Nurdin.
Nainggolan said that his office was yet to determine the
number of areas deprived of radio and television relays and that
the problem was still being studied.
However, in the discussion that lasted for about four hours,
it was concluded that there were still many areas in the province
that are without public information services.
Labuhan Batu Information and Communications Office head Hasban
Ritonga said that many people in the regency had not received
radio or television relays during the 60 years of independence.
For example, most of the broadcasts received by Labuhan Batu
residents were from neighboring countries like Malaysia and
Singapore.
"There are still many residents here who do not know who their
President is. They are more familiar with the leaders of Malaysia
and Singapore. This is one of the negative impacts faced by the
residents due to the lack of national broadcast services.
Hasban disclosed that to overcome the problem, the regental
administration had built a radio station financed by the regental
budget.
"We built the station three years ago, but have not obtained a
license to date," said Hasban, adding that his office was also
planning to establish a television station.
A speaker in the seminar, Hinca Panjaitan, welcomed the idea,
but reminded the regental administration to arrange for a
license, because operating without one was punishable with up to
two years' imprisonment.
According to Hinca, the deprivation of citizens' right to
information was a national problem that particularly affected the
eastern regions.
"The country should have paid serious attention to the
people's right to access public information services. It's
terribly wrong if there are still citizens who cannot enjoy
national radio and television broadcasts," said Hinca.
Head of the North Sumatra chapter of the Registration and
Standardization Transmission Commission (KPID) Arya Mahendra
Sinulingga said that his office had encouraged regental and
municipal administrations to establish radio and television
stations to address the problem. He said that the public was
welcome to build radio and television stations and the commission
would not ask for registration fees as the fees would be covered
by the provincial administration.