Jakarta – After eight months of uncertainty over their status, workers of the now-defunct Jakarta News FM radio station rallied in front of the Kelompok Kompas Gramedia (KKG) media group's office in Palmerah, Central Jakarta, on Friday.

Along with the station's sympathizers, they protested what they called the illegal takeover of the radio station.

Since May 2005, the Jakarta News FM, which broadcast news and discussion of human right issues, has been replaced by Otomotion FM, which airs more commercial and lifestyle-oriented content.

A spokesman for the station's union, Ignatius Indro, said they wanted the frequency returned to them, or at least for the new station to broadcast more news and information that touched on the interests of the general public. "We want KKG to return the frequency to the public and to give us our rights as workers," he said.

The workers said they had not bee dismissed after the change, but had lost their positions in the office. They said radio frequencies could not be transferred among companies, as the government had appointed the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) to do that job.

The protesters also demanded the rights of the Jakarta News FM workers be taken into consideration.

"Our company never asked us to be involved in the process. They never informed us of anything. All of a sudden we saw this job vacancy advertisement in Kompas saying Otomotion radio at 97.5 on the FM frequency was looking for employees," Ignatius said.

A lawyer, Asfinawati, who attended the rally, said a radio frequency was just like any other natural resource. "Just like water and air, no one can put a price on it. The administration of radio frequencies should be handled solely by the government," she said.

PT Radio Safari Bina Budaya, a subsidiary of KKG, which was initially appointed by KPI to administer 97.5 FM in 1995, released a formal statement Friday saying the company still held the rights to the frequency.

The statement said it had rented the frequency to PT Milenia Komunika Pradana, or Jakarta News FM, from October 1999 to May 2005. When the contract expired, PT Radio Safari gave the frequency to Otomotion FM.

"We're in the middle of negotiations to resolve the dispute... But the demonstration Friday annulled all agreements we had reached," PT Radio Safari said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post over the weekend.