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 Content | Information on the Fondation Hirondelle Radio Refugee Project, MORIS HAMUTUK
Background
Fondation Hirondelle began discussions with OCPI and Radio UNTAET for the establishment of a refugee radio project in December 1999, and a proposal to establish a refugee radio station was made in 2000. Given that Radio UNTAET by then existed as a nationwide service, a new proposal was developed and submitted in 2001. The project, to produce a daily one hour program broadcast on Radio UNTAET, came to fruition in September 2001 with a memorandum of understanding between UNTAET and Fondation
Hirondelle. The project is funded by the Swiss government. The one-hour daily program is called Moris Hamutuk (Living Together).
The Objective
The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the post-conflict reconstruction and to reconciliation in East Timor through the dissemination of information. The direct objective of the project is to provide refugees and returnees with independent, objective, useful and credible information, in their own languages. This information will help them make an informed choice about their immediate and long-term future.
General information
The studio and office is based in Radio UNTAET. Studio Moris Hamutuk offers programming including information, magazine formats and music to all the inhabitants of East Timor, and refugees in West Timor. The program will be produced mainly in Tetum and Bahasa Indonesia, and there will also be regular slots for information and messages in local dialects. The project will run until the end of March 2002, but could be extended if needed.
Programs are first broadcast on Radio UNTAET, but Studio Moris Hamutuk also broadcasts its program on other radio stations in the region. The program is assured a consistent and wide coverage in both East and West Timor. Radio Timor Kmanek, in Dili, will broadcast the program on their FM and AM bands. Radio Timor Kmanek’s AM broadcast reaches as far as Kupang. Two West Timor radio stations will relay the programs on a daily basis. One of the stations, Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) broadcasts a strong signal throughout the whole of West Timor. The other station, Radio Rhamagong will broadcast the program in the Kupang region.
Moris Hamutuk Team
The program will employ and train three East Timor journalists. An East Timorese administrator, a technician and translator/interpreters are also employed as part of the team. Three part-time West Timorese journalists are employed so that Moris Hamutuk can receive consistent coverage of the situation from West Timor and particularly inside the camps. There is an international as project manager working until April 2002 and a producer and trainer contracted until the end of December 2001.
The Project’s Contribution to Radio UNTAET
MORIS HAMUTUK is a project run by Fondation Hirondelle, a Swiss NGO, with funding from the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-Operation (SDC). A main contribution of Fondation Hirondelle’s funds, provided by SDC, will be to expand the coverage of Radio UNTAET. Fondation Hirondelle will contribute to the installation of a new 1kW FM transmitter at a site used formerly by RRI, on top of Kutalaut Mountain. From this site at 1470 meters elevation, the radio will significantly improve its coverage, reaching points far beyond the border with West Timor, to cover refugee camps and create a stronger signal in East Timor. The FM transmitters in Ermera and Liquica will become superfluous and be disconnected, allowing the reduction of operational costs. UNTAET intends also to install a TV antenna at Kutalaut Mountain to cover Dili and its surroundings. Two new generator sets are needed to insure long lasting operation of these transmitters and their cost has been included in the Fondation Hirondelle budget.
The new Production studio needed to produce Moris Hamutuk has been built with the same equipment as the one at Radio UNTAET to ensure consistency and ease of maintenance. After Moris Hamutuk finishes its programming the studios, transport, office and all equipment will be handed over to Radio UNTAET. The equipment and materials of the project will be handed over to the East Timor Administration after UNTAET finishes its mandate.
Training of journalists and technicians will be an essential component of this project. Most East Timorese radio journalists are already working, so Fondation Hirondelle will hire younger people with little experience and train them in journalism and radio production. This activity will contribute to making the operation of future Timorese radio stations more sustainable.
Content of the Program
Studio MORIS HAMUTUK is particularly attentive to the vulnerable, including refugees, displaced persons and victims of violence.
Studio MORIS HAMUTUK gives information on the activities of local and international aid organizations that are active in East Timor and the surrounding region.
Studio MORIS HAMUTUK programming gives special emphasis to civic education, development, reconciliation, human rights, and initiatives for maintaining peace.
Studio MORIS HAMUTUK assists the development of independent, pluralistic and responsible media in East Timor through cooperation with local radio stations.
Studio MORIS HAMUTUK avoids sterile political commentary and polemical discussion. The station takes particular care to dispel rumour and misinformation.
Studio MORIS HAMUTUK will closely follow the judicial process, which is already ongoing in East Timor.
Among the issues and items which will feature regularly in the program are:
1. Exchange of news and information between refugees in West Timor and their families in East Timor
2. The security situation in East Timor
3. The reconciliation process
4. The type of re-integration they can expect in the communities
5. Region specific information to the refugees about their district
6. What refugees can expect when they cross the border
7. Help available to the refugees when they return
8. The availability of health, education and other social support services
9. The justice system, and prospects for those who have committed serious crimes
10. Land and property issues
11. Indonesian government pensions
12. Information on what refugees need to do in order to return to East Timor, especially for those from the far eastern part of East Timor
13. Information on the work of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the UNHCR.
The program will include dedications, which will contribute to make it popular.
Programs produced by Fondation Hirondelle will be labeled as such and identified with their own jingles. A short presentation of Fondation Hirondelle is made at the outset of the program.
For more information contact:
Project Manager, Russell Anderson: 0418 630 237
Reporter / Presenter, Anito Matos: 0417 704 079
Studio technician and translator, Mauricio Borges: 0417 847 597
Administrator and translator, Rui Carvalho 0407 392 381
Producer and Trainer, David Wood: 0417 076 378
Reporter, Dulce Maria Belo: 0407 187 268
Reporter, Bernadeti da Silva: 0408 842 563
A new program about refugees and returnees will go to air on Radio UNTAET, in Dili, East Timor, commencing this Monday the 29th of October 2001. This daily program, created by Studio Moris Hamutuk (“Living Together”), will also be broadcasted in West Timor on Radio Republic Indonesia and Radio Ramagong. This will be the first regular refugee program that reaches such a wide audience in both East and West Timor.
The aim of Studio Moris Hamutuk is to provide refugees and returnees with objective and useful information so that they can make informed decisions about their immediate and long-term future. This magazine presented by Anito Matos will be on one hour, mostly in Tetum and Indonesian, but also in local dialects. News, current affairs and informative interviews will also include an emphasis on civic education, registration, land tenure, development, reconciliation, human rights, initiatives for maintaining peace, and some attention paid to the ongoing judicial process.
The team is mostly East Timorese, with three journalists, an administrator and a technician. Three West Timorese journalists will be providing regular reports about the situation in the camps. The Project Manager and the Producer/Trainer are international.
The program is the result of an agreement between the Swiss-based NGO Fondation Hirondelle and UNTAET. Funds have been provided by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. |