KUALA LUMPUR – The Community Communications Department (J-Kom) still has a purpose and there is no need to dissolve it, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said.
People can have their own views about its necessity, but the unit under his ministry only needs a revamp, he said, referring to recent remarks by Gerakan president Datuk Dominic Lau.
“It still has some functions that are needed and that’s one of the reasons why we want to do a revamp.
“After the revamp, J-Kom will be slightly different from what it is now,” Fahmi, who is Lembah Pantai MP, told reporters after attending a cheap sales programme at the Kerinchi People’s Housing Project in his constituency today.
Lau recently said J-Kom was redundant as there was already the Information Department. J-Kom was previously the Special Affairs Department, or Jasa, under earlier government administrations before its rebranding in 2020.
As to naming a new J-Kom director-general, Fahmi appealed for more time as the appointment of a candidate is related to the ministry’s review of the agency’s functions.
“More than just the director-general candidate, we (the ministry) are also reviewing J-Kom’s functions, so give us some time.”
Former director-general Datuk Mohammad Agus Yusoff resigned in November amid a scandal over a viral clip showing him in a video call purportedly engaging in lewd talk with a junior J-Kom staffer. The matter is now a police case. – January 6, 2023