Radio promoted by UNESCO

YOGYAKARTA (JP): An executive of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said here on Tuesday that Indonesian people must try to establish more small-scale community radio stations as an alternative way to prevent the country's disintegration.

Wijayanda Jayaweera, UNESCO's Regional Communication Adviser for Asia, said that Indonesia, as a plural and populous country, faced big challenges in solving many national and local problems in relation with plurality and the democratization process.

"As a big country with a pluralistic character, Indonesia needs such kinds of mass media to help solve problems at the grass roots," he said.

He was speaking to journalists at the sidelines of a national seminar titled "Community Radio: For National Democracy and Unity".

The seminar was organized by UNESCO's Jakarta Office in cooperation with the Yogyakarta Citizens' Association (Pawarta). Some 70 nongovernmental organization (NGO) activists and journalists attended the seminar.

Jayaweera urged local communities in Indonesia to consider the possibility of establishing community radio stations. "The radio stations will function as a channel for members of the public to discuss issues with each other. For the sake of the country's unity and diversity, community radio must be able to accommodate the interests of the neglected and marginalized people," he said. (23)