Fans protest over radio's closure

Fans protest over radio's closure

JAKARTA: A community group comprising Jakarta News FM
listeners has urged the House of Representatives, the government
and the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) to intervene and
find a solution to the internal conflict at the privately owned
radio station.

"We have lost one of our sources of information after the
radio station stopped operating on May 15, 2005," group member
Lintang explained during a news conference in Jakarta on
Wednesday.

The group, consisting of its former listeners, also demanded
that all parties involved in the dispute, particularly the
company's shareholders and employees, immediately settle their
case, either through legal action or in a more amicable way.

The group said the conflict had also affected the employees of
the radio station (97.5 Mhz), who were now in limbo.

Retno Widarsi, a regular listener and an herbal medicine
trader, said she lost one of her sources to get information that
she used to depend on, as a result of the closure of the radio
station.

"The radio does not only offer commercial programs, but also
provides knowledge of democracy, freedom, fairness and clean
governance," she said.

Lintang and Muslim cleric Nuril Arifin vowed that they would
organize a protest at the House, if the radio owners could not
find a solution.

The conflict among the shareholders forced the radio to stop
broadcasting. --Antara