City set to dole out Rp 3.15b to journalists

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city plans to allocate of Rp 3.15 billion (US$338,710) for journalists in the 2005 city budget -- a move its critics call outright bribery that threatens press freedom.

The allocation is part of the Rp 34.24 billion budget proposed to the city council for the administration's public relations and protocol bureau.

The budget allocates Rp 1.5 billion of the money for "general coverage" costs and another Rp 1.5 billion to pay for 12 months worth of interviews.

The administration is also putting Rp 150 million toward a budget item known as the "partnership forum" with 70 journalists covering City Hall.

The Rp 3.15 billion allocation does not include the Rp 1.8 billion budget allocation for public information services through electronic media such as television and radio.

City spokesman Catur Laswanto could not say how the money would be allocated, saying he needed to consult with staff before he could explain.

"Sorry, I am still new here. I need to talk with my staff to answer your questions," he told The Jakarta Post.

He stressed that all items in the budget draft bylaw were subject to change during council deliberations.

The administration has regularly given out "stipends" to some journalists covering City Hall and offers them overseas trips, inviting them to participate "comparative studies" abroad.

Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta) chairman Azas Tigor Nainggolan said the budget allocations to the press were part of efforts to blunt media reports against the administration.

He stressed that the journalists had no right to receive any payments using public money.

"Journalists have no right to receive even one cent from the city budget because they are not city employees. They get paid by their respective offices," he said.

Tigor, who is an outspoken critic of the administration, demanded the council drop the budget allocation to ensure journalists worked independently.

The council's Commission A for legal and administrative affairs chairman Achmad Suaidy said he agreed with the allocations as long as the administration did not use the money to try and manipulate reports.

"I support (the allocations) it as long as the money really reaches them (the reporters). But I must stress that the money must not influence the media's independence," he said.

Representatives of the administration and the council are currently deliberating next year's Rp 13.83 trillion budget, which is expected to be approved on Dec. 31.