An old man entered community radio station Mitra FM. In simple clothes and slippers, the 60-year-old sat in the radio announcer's seat and took out a stack of coupons from his white plastic bag.

"I'm just a farmer... I have no background as a radio announcer at all, I just learned by doing," said Tamen, who has been an announcer since the station was set up in November 2006. The community radio in Hamparan Perak district in North Sumatra's Deli Serdang regency has 14 announcers, most of whom are farmers. Tamen said he enjoyed being an announcer even though he was not being paid.

The father of three, who was declared the province's best community radio announcer in April this year, says he was happy enough learning a new skill -- and with the occasional gifts sent in by his audience, which have included a new cell phone and a pair of trousers.

The station's broadcasting chief, Bowo Sukirno, said the station had helped improve the welfare of locals. Suedi, a 38-year-old farmer in the district, said the community radio has helped farmers to learn new methods. He said they had learned about planting patterns and methods from experts who had been interviewed on air.

"Before, we mostly planted our rice simply based on our experience. But now that we have learned the proper way to plant rice, we produce more rice each harvest time," Suedi said.

Bowo Sukirno said 80 percent of the radio's programs were entertainment, 15 percent educational and 5 percent public service ads. He said the community radio was first initiated and financed by the Bitra Indonesia non-governmental organization but its day-to-day operation is financed by residents. The radio station is still located in a home belonging to Dulmanan, a resident.

Bowo said the station had several sources of income to cover its operational costs, including selling coupons to residents and running public service ads. "Almost 80 percent of the station's operational costs is covered by money raised from selling coupons. The rest comes from public service ads," said Bowo, adding the station has also won first prize in an advertising competition for its anti-trafficking ad.

He said the coupons were sold to residents at Rp 1,000 for three from kiosks. Around 4,000 are sold every month. Hamparan Perak residents, who are mainly farmers, usually gather at food stalls in the area at noon to listen to the station play their favorite songs.

Bitra Indonesia executive director, Safaruddin Siregar, said the community radio station was established to fight capitalism, which restricts people's access to information and communication. He said residents had no space to deliver or express their problems since the information networks were dominated by those with money who had collaborated with the political elite.

"In this situation, we saw the need to develop an alternative media that was independently run by the people. "By independent here, we mean people having the right to decide the topic or issue being discussed," Safaruddin said.

The group has since started two community radios, one in Hamparan Perak and another in Perbaungan district in Serdang Bedagai regency.

"We have worked to gain permits for these two community radio stations. Investment to set up the stations is our responsibility. We also train the group of announcers and set up an audience group," he said.

The Jakarta Post Daily, July 18, 2007