Govt denies revival of info ministry

JAKARTA: State Minister of Information and Communication Sofyan Djalil denied on Friday that the office would be upgraded into a ministry akin to the information ministry under Soeharto, which had the power to impose a media ban.

Sofyan was responding to a presidential regulation being drafted on the jurisdictional transfer of the directorate general of post and telecommunication from the Ministry of Transportation to the state minister's office.

According to the draft regulation, the office would be reestablished as the Ministry of Information.

"But it will not revive the old information ministry (like the one set up by Soeharto to curb press freedom)," Sofyan said.

He said the new ministry would focus on preparing and improving information technology (IT) infrastructure and in educating the public on IT issues. -- JP