Broadcasting commission a laughingstock to members
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) says an inadequate budget and legal uncertainty regarding its power have prevented it from exercising its legitimate mandate since its inception two years ago, despite public calls for improvement in the country's broadcasting industry.
As if to add insult to injury, television and radio stations have simply ignored the KPI's reprimands over media content that, according to the commission, violates regulations.
The violations, said the KPI, include the broadcast of explicit sexual acts or classified content outside of the designated hours.
A weak budget, supposedly essential in order to effectively monitor media content, is evident in the fact that KPI only has two TV sets and not a single recording device.
"Even the money allotted in the 2005 state budget for the commission has not been disbursed yet," KPI deputy chairman Sinansari Encip told a hearing with House of Representatives Commission I for information on Wednesday.
The government agreed to provide Rp 11.58 billion (US$1.2 million) for the KPI for this fiscal year. Encip, however, said so far the KPI had been using Rp 99.5 million in loans from the Ministry of Communication and Information to cover its activities.
Ironically, the KPI is currently in a heated dispute with the ministry following multiple interpretations of who is in charge of broadcasting in the country.
The dispute led the KPI to file a judicial review with the Supreme Court two weeks ago on three government regulations recently issued, which the KPI says have cut its authorities down to size.
The three regulations grant most of the powers to govern broadcasting activities, including issuance and extension of licenses, to the ministry.
This, the ministry said, was a consequence of the broadcasting law that says the industry is regulated by the "state", a word that the KPI has interpreted as itself.
The House, which drafted and passed the law, has thrown its weight behind the KPI, saying that the KPI represents the state.
Members of the House Commission I said on Wednesday they were prepared to facilitate a tripartite meeting to solve the dispute out of court.
Pending the settlement, KPI member Ade Armando asked legislators to separate the commission's budget from the ministry's in the next fiscal year to ensure independence.
Another KPI member Andrik Purwasita said the uncertain status of the commission had encouraged broadcasters to defy the KPI's reprimands, especially because it had no power to force the broadcasters to comply.
"If our power is strictly defined and legitimized, we will be able to mete out punishment ranging from warnings to revocation of licenses. KPI will become a respected institution, which I can assure you will put nothing but public interest first," he said.