Expert applauds new info ministry

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A communication expert has applauded the government's move to set up a ministry of communications and information, saying it would help simplify the chain the bureaucracy in establishing new electronic media.

The new ministry will have the authority to issue licenses and determine the frequency of new radio and television stations, thus removing the overlapping functions that currently exist between two ministries; that of the transportation ministry -- sometimes called the communications ministry -- and that of the Office of the State Minister for Communications and Information, researcher Roy Suryo said on Sunday.

"The new ministry has the authority to issue permits and determine frequencies, which should make it easier in regulating the electronic media," Roy told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Previously, while permits were issued by the Office of the State Minister for Communications and Information, the frequency would be determined by the Directorate General of Post and Telecommunications under the Ministry of Transportation.

He was commenting on the government's decision to place the Directorate of Post and Telecommunications under the Office of the State Minister for Communications and Information and to make the office a full ministry.

"Communications and information should include the administration of the radio, television as well as the telephone system, which are all forms of communication," State Minister for Communications and Information Sofyan Djalil told the post, in reply to questions over the reason behind the decision.

However, in view of the fact that the decision would make Sofyan's ministry more powerful, Roy stressed the need for the government to set up a clear-cut job description and rules for the new ministry, to avoid the possible abuse of power that existed during the Soeharto era when media censorship was rampant under the old ministry of information.

"The minister should not act as the mouthpiece of the government as happened before. It should have instead clear rules on the granting of frequencies so it cannot be used as another form of censorship," he underlined.

In response, Sofyan underlined that his ministry, and any other government ministries for that matter, would not have such a role, saying it was the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) that has the authority to scrutinize the content of the news.

"The government will not deal whatsoever with the content of the news, we are only handling the distribution of the frequencies," Sofyan remarked.

The ministry will have three director generals -- post and telecommunications, telecommunication and media application, and infrastructure of the information sector -- to be made effective immediately.

The ministry will also have two agencies -- public information agency and telecommunication and media research agencies -- with the presidential decree as a legal basis for the establishment of the agencies expected to be signed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono anytime soon.

"The public information agency will focus on the dissemination of information throughout the country. It will serve as a national media center," Sofyan explained.