Harmoko beefs up his ministry

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Information Harmoko said yesterday he is beefing up the personnel of his office to better handle the rapid flow of information from overseas and domestic demand for better information.

"We need quality people who can contribute to the effort to face those challenges," Harmoko said yesterday when he inducted 25 officials of first, second and third echelons at his office.

In his speech, Harmoko said foreign information contains both negative and positive elements for the government and its people.

The Ministry of Information supervises the mass media operation in Indonesia besides disseminating information about government objectives and programs.

The ministry needs more qualified personnel who can strengthen Indonesia's resilience in politics, ideology, economics, society and culture, as well as in security and defense, he said.

He also reminded his staff that Indonesia's second 25-year development plan needs better human resources, which can only be developed through sound education and training programs.

"We also need to learn from past mistakes, and use past successes as our springboard to move ahead," he said.

Earlier this week Harmoko promised that the ministry will crack down on private television stations to curtail broadcasts that harm children or the nation's cultural values.

"We will study the impact so television broadcasts are not out of control against the children and nation," Harmoko said.

He also said that the government would take steps to improve those deemed harmful to both children and culture.

Indonesia has one government-run television channel, and four private ones.

During the ceremony yesterday, Harmoko inducted R.M. Simatupang as his aide on press and public opinion, replacing Sahlan.

The 24 other officials inducted were the ministry's second and third echelon officials. Among them were Djekson A. Rivai, who was appointed head of the ministry's training center, and Hamdan Sjahbeni, appointed head of Yogyakarta station of the state-owned Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI).

Hasundutan Hutabarat was appointed head of RRI in Bengkulu, and Tjutju Tjuarna head of RRI in Malang, East Java. (swe)