THE Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) will be taking five broadcasters to court for defaulting on fees and operating without licenses.

“GNBA will be putting certain broadcasters before the court…we have contacted our lawyer to move ahead with certain litigation against certain broadcasters,” said Chairman of the GNBA, Leslie Sobers, during an interview with the Guyana Chronicle on Friday. Sobers made it clear that the authority will not be putting people before the court for content but, for being defaulters. Among the broadcasters are those who have been operating without a license; those who had licenses but they have expired; and those who owe millions of dollars and are neglecting and refusing to pay. “We have said and we have given early warning, we have even put into place payment plans…those who are part of the payment plan would not be troubled,” said Sobers. Although most defaulters had joined the payment plan in the past, he said there are others who believe they can continue to test the authority’s decency and patience.

“We won’t have it, we are going to court,” said the chairman, adding that once the court order is issued the authority will act swiftly. He said once there is a court order the authority will be allowed to seize equipment and put it up for sale in order to make money. Despite the aggressive approach, Sobers said defaulters can still approach the authority to sort out the matter before it reaches the court. The authority intends on continuing its efforts to address all infractions and ensure that all broadcasters are up to date with the regulations of the GNBA.

Late last year the GNBA had said that outstanding fees exceeded $50M. Earlier in the year, 2018 the GNBA had announced that the outstanding sum owed by some 12 broadcasters stood at over $100M with one broadcaster, alone, owing $20M for broadcast rights. “There are many of those who are working. Some of them are making their payments regularly; some are consistent and we’re seeing progress among those who are consistent. What we’re doing for those with backlogs is that as they clear the backlog, for example, for 2015 we issue the license and if they then clear up 2016, we send that license too and we’re going in stages like that, bit by bit and we’re seeing some progress,” Sobers had told the Guyana Chronicle back in October last year.

Last month Sobers was quoted by Demerara Waves Online News as saying that a number of stations have been on air without licences for years, while others have breached payment agreements with the regulator. He had said then that the GNBA had grown weary of waiting on payments. “Mostly, they haven’t paid their licence dues and some of them might have entered into agreements with the authority for offsetting their backlog and they haven’t been honouring it so we couldn’t regard them as compliant and some of them, their licences have expired and they have not sought to renew it [SIC] as yet,” he told the Demerara Waves.