(SEAPA/IFEX) – Fighting between the independent Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) and the Ministry of Communication and Information over regulatory power has sent the radio broadcasting sector into disarray. In one week, the Association of the Indonesian Frequency Monitoring Board (BALMON), an agency under the authority of the Ministry of Communication and Information, forcibly closed down […]
(SEAPA/IFEX) – Fighting between the independent Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) and the Ministry of Communication and Information over regulatory power has sent the radio broadcasting sector into disarray.
In one week, the Association of the Indonesian Frequency Monitoring Board (BALMON), an agency under the authority of the Ministry of Communication and Information, forcibly closed down two community radio stations in Indonesia’s Aceh province on a discriminatory basis, according to the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI).
AJI cited radio operators’ warnings that more radio stations were facing imminent closure due to lack of licenses, and urged regulators to apply non-discriminatory criteria in closing down any other stations.
On 12 July 2006, BALMON officials, backed by about 20 military police, stormed the offices of the Banda Aceh-based Suara Perempuan (Women’s Voice) radio station and seized its transmitter, thus terminating the broadcast. They acted on a confiscation order which said the station was operating without a license.
Asni Juwita, the director of the station, said the forced closure took place despite an assurance from the regional Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPID) that it was in the process of reviewing the station’s application for a license.
The station, the first to be operated in Aceh after the tsunami, educates its listeners on gender and women’s empowerment and has a large audience among the middle class.
On 13 July, the same regulator closed down Seha Radio in Jantho, the capital of Aceh Besar, also for operating without a license. Muzakkir, an official at Seha Radio, explained that this closure was not the first. His station was closed down before, but later re-opened, for unclear reasons. Prior to the closure, the station had applied for a license.
Uzair, a committee member of KPID-Banda Aceh, said the BALMON actions were discriminatory because they targeted only stations outside the purview of the Association Private Broadcast Radio (PRSSNI). Uzair revealed that several radio stations that have been officially banned by KPI, such as the military-run station in Lhokseumawe, remained on the air.
All radio stations across the country have yet to secure a Broadcasting Management License, pending a solution to the conflict between the KPI and the Ministry of Communication and Information over which agency has legitimate power to regulate broadcasting licenses. Both KPI and the government have stopped issuing licenses in the meantime.
Both Muzakkir and Asni Juwita have urged PRSSNI to shut down all other radio stations in Aceh, since they have no licenses.
