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.