Radio station offers round the clock riot news

JAKARTA (JP): "Be prepared. Men... wake up and be vigilant. You'd better awaken your neighbors and guard your area against the possibility of looting," a broadcaster from the privately run Sonora Radio announced.

The broadcaster made the announcement on Thursday night following complaints by Jakartans who phoned the station to inform him that the looting spree which hit the capital had spread to residential areas.

Besides calling on listeners to safeguard their houses, the radio also announced important phone numbers for the police and military in case their services were required to combat looters.

The announcement was part of a 24-hour public service program laid on by Sonora Radio to provide up to date information on the spread of the unrest.

The program received an enthusiastic response from listeners because it provided them with information on the very latest developments and advice on where to seek assistance. It also gave then a forum in which to voice their anger and fears.

Among those phoning in was a woman who remarked that on her way home from a hospital she had seen "our beloved Jakarta in ruins." A man from a Ciputat housing complex in Tangerang appealed for more help from security officers because he said none were present during the ransack of the Hero supermarket and Makro wholesale store on Jl. Ciputat Raya.

Iwan, a resident of Taman Asri housing complex in Ciledug, Tangerang, said the 24-hour program had been very informative.

"By listening to information provided by other listeners on the movement of looters, we were able to prepare ourselves too," he said.

"Even though the information provided by other listeners was at times a bit frightening, I was compelled to tune in to it," he said.

The program had positive results, he said, because based on the information provided, he and his neighbors, equipped with knives and other sharp implements, stood watch until dawn.

Sugiri, a resident of Kresek Indah housing complex in West Jakarta, also said the 24-hour program was very informative.

"I have been tuning into Radio Sonora when traveling by car so that I can get an idea of which roads are safe to take and which ones are clogged up with traffic or unsafe due to rioting," he said.

After announcing the cancellation of a marriage reception scheduled for Saturday at the mosque in Pondok Indah, one of the radio broadcasters invited other listeners to send in similar messages.

"We'll do it for free, but please send us some food," he said in a jovial but earnest manner. "We'd welcome corn, noodles or anything. We've been surviving on coffee, we can't go anywhere and we have no gas to cook."

"Yes, we have to fight against fatigue. We depend a lot on instant noodles because all the food sellers have gone home," Wimpy, one of the station's executives, said.

He explained that the program had been authorized by the Jakarta office of the Ministry of Information and the information section of the Jakarta Military Command to broadcast the 24-hour program from Thursday to Sunday. Normally, the station goes of the air mostly after midnight.

It was not an easy job to run the program because besides continuously broadcasting, the crew at times had to negotiate with angry mobs threatening to set the studio building ablaze, he said.

"The program is in line with our motto: Information and Entertainment Radio," he said, adding that listeners had need of up to the minute information on the emergency situation.

Wimpy, a member of the radio station's secretariat, said the program used 19 broadcasters and operators who worked in shift.

"About 60 percent of last night's program consisted of information provided by the public, with the remaining 40 percent coming from our own crew," he said. It was a bit unusual because on ordinary days, information from the public made up only 10 percent of the program, he added.

He believed that most information supplied by the public throughout the night was accurate because it had been submitted by the station's loyal listeners.

"None of the information turned out to be false. We could detect its accuracy from the sound of callers voices."

People used the phone-in as an outlet for pent-up emotions. Some callers phoned in tears. "We trust them because it's a bit difficult to perpetrate a hoax by crying," Wimpy said. (pan/anr/hhr)