Ad hoc media center opens

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In order to provide better access to local and foreign media for the latest developments in the JW Marriott Hotel bombing investigation, the Jakarta administration and the National Police established on Sunday the City of Jakarta Media Center at the Sari Pan Pacific Hotel on Jl. M.H. Thamrin, Central Jakarta.

"The media center will be open for about two weeks to enable the media to obtain information from reliable sources. We will arrange for specific officials to speak (in the press briefings) upon your request," Governor Sutiyoso told the press.

The center, which occupies a room on the hotel's fourth floor, will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The center has standard business facilities for journalists' use, including Internet connection, fax machines, telephones and a meeting room that can accommodate 100 people. Translators are available for foreign journalists.

"The center will also provide contact persons regarding the latest developments of the investigation," said a staffer.

Jakarta Spokesman Muhayat told The Jakarta Post that the media center was established specifically to provide information to foreign media from reliable sources.

"We don't want them to gather the wrong information from unqualified sources," he said, as it would mislead the public.

The National Police had earlier set up a media center at the Jakarta Police Headquarters near the Semanggi cloverleaf. But the center failed to meet the press' high demand for information, as it had only two staffers for a variety of tasks, including monitoring the progress of the investigation as printed or broadcast in the media.

The old media center also did not have a hotline, which made it difficult for journalists to obtain the latest information, and it did not provide daily press briefings at fixed times nor translators for foreign journalists.

"Besides the lack of staff and equipment, we also needed a more spacious and comfortable room to hold press conferences. We don't have such facilities at either the National Police Headquarters or the Jakarta Police Headquarters," Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Prasetyo told the Post. He did not elaborate on the budget allocated toward the media center, nor its source.

The City of Jakarta Media Center can be accessed by phone at (021) 322 940 or (021) 323 010.