PM denies rebranded J-Kom misused for political agenda
Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has denied that the allocation given to the Community Communications Department (J-Kom) had been misused for a political agenda.
In a parliamentary reply, he said J-Kom, known as the Special Affairs Department (Jasa), was rebranded in February 2021 to build up communities.
He said J-Kom was to target communities at the grassroots level and focus on inculcating patriotism by...
Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has denied that the allocation given to the Community Communications Department (J-Kom) had been misused for a political agenda.
In a parliamentary reply, he said J-Kom, known as the Special Affairs Department (Jasa), was rebranded in February 2021 to build up communities.
He said J-Kom was to target communities at the grassroots level and focus on inculcating patriotism by adopting a "community empowerment" approach.
"So far, RM14,500 has been spent to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, including programmes supporting the frontliners and Covid-19 patients at quarantine and treatment centres and the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (Maeps).
"On top of that, J-Kom also provided 291 creative content such as posters, video, and photos.
"These initiatives were implemented without any cost incurred. These contents were uploaded to social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and WhatsApp," he said.
J-Kom was tasked to implement strategic communication to promote the new normal after the pandemic, said Ismail Sabri.
"From the programmes that have been implemented or are being planned, it is obvious that J-Kom's allocation was not misused for politically related programmes," he said.
He was responding to Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis (Warian-Kota Belud).
Munirah questioned whether J-Kom's allocation was really for handling Covid-19. She said the outfit was seen to have been abused for a political agenda and to tarnish the image of certain parties.
J-Kom was the subject of a major controversy when it was allocated RM85.5 million under Budget 2021 under its previous identity, Jasa, which was a propaganda unit of the BN government.
The allocation, given during the Perikatan Nasional federal administration, was four-fold the allocation given to Jasa during the BN administration.
After much outcry, the budget for the rebranded J-Kom was slashed to RM40.5 million.
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