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Jagdeo’s doling out of radio licences was ‘indecent’ … new GNBA chair promises review, not necessarily revocation

By Ariana Gordon
THE reviewing of radio licences issued by former President Bharrat Jagdeo in 2011 does not necessarily speak to revocation. Chairman of the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) Leonard Craig yesterday cautioned that while the authority will be reviewing all licences issued, they will not necessarily be revoked. “All licences will be reviewed, but review is not necessarily synonymous with revocation. Whatever is done here, during the review process, will be fair, transparent and above board. I am not in a position to say what form or shape it would look like, that is a decision the entire board would have to make,” said Craig.
The GNBA Chairman told this publication that he believes the move by former President Jagdeo to issue 12 radio licences was wrong. “Yes, I think it was not done based on the agreement between the political parties that existed then. There was an agreement that all licensing should be stopped until the Broadcast Act came into being and the then President Jagdeo took it upon himself, which is an indecent thing to do…”

Widespread criticism
Jagdeo had granted licences under the colonial Post and Telegraph Act just before the November 2011 General and Regional elections, a move that saw widespread criticism from the public. The former president and the leader of the People’s National Congress, Robert Corbin in 2003 agreed that additional licences would not have been issued until modern broadcasting legislation and an authority were established. That agreement was breached by Jagdeo.
Notwithstanding his view, Craig says with the Broadcast Act in place, all licencees were asked to reapply. With approximately 20 applications before the Authority, he said many are compliant with the legal requirements for application. “Yes, those new applicants that came in complied largely with the requirements of the law but that does not go for 100 per cent of the applicants,” he noted.
He explained that while he cannot “divulge which applicants did not comply” with the requirements, representatives of the GNBA have been in meetings with those who were not fully compliant. “… We have been meeting with all of them and where the applications and licence fell short, we outlined that…so the relevant licencees, they know and they understand what their shortcomings are and we have asked them to fix that,” Craig disclosed.
Several radio licences were given to persons aligned with the now opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) while many independent media entities, including Stabroek News, Capitol News, CNS 6, HBTV and Kaieteur News, were denied licences and asked to re-apply.

Favouritism
The move saw repeated protests by those who felt sidelined and this followed a High Court action in 2013 by the National Media Broadcasting Company (NMBC) and the Guyana Media Proprietors Association (GMPA) and Enrico Woolford, Managing Director/Editor for EMW Communications. Jagdeo’s granting of licences under the Post and Telegraph Act was described by the group as favouritism.
“By the granting of licences by the Minister and the National Frequency Management Unit to friends, supporters, family members and to members of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic who would clearly reasonably be expected to propagate the political views and opinions consistent with the said party, correspondingly applicants are being deprived and denied their right to freedom of expression and to communicate opinions and the inequality amounts in itself to a contravention,” the court document said.
Earlier this year, Minister of State Joseph Harmon announced that his administration would be moving to have all licences distributed by Jagdeo reviewed. However, PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee in response said his party is not moved by Harmon’s utterances. He maintained that “all licences were legally granted” and as such his party has nothing to fear.

Vision for GNBA

Meanwhile, Craig during his three-year term in office plans on reviewing and updating broadcast legislation, codes and advisories which should include, among other things, rules on compulsory quota for local and Caribbean content; content rules for cable operators; guidelines on advertisements; broadcast content rating system both for individual programme format and for broadcasting houses; compulsory subtitling of foreign language content and a policy for internet broadcasting.

****Additionally, the GNBA intends to rework the generic licensing template used to issue broadcast licences; amend the Broadcast Act; review all licences in line with the new regulations based on a system of fairness and equity; provide enabling mechanisms to re-establish, reconstitute an Association of Broadcasters where a representative group can advocate general outcomes on behalf of members; set up a full-fledged Broadcast Authority with a duly appointed Secretary and CEO; develop a reward mechanism for creative local programming in collaboration with the department of culture and other stakeholders; collaborate with the National Commission on Disabilities to assist with sourcing funds and expertise to set up closed captioning of live newscasts and other local content; establish a broadcast college of international repute that offers postgraduate certification in broadcasting with possible internships at international broadcast agencies; set a timetable and framework for switching from analog to digital broadcasting and instigate a framework for common Caribbean broadcasting standards and an affiliate organisation for broadcast regulators.
Craig explained that it is difficult to make long-term plans given the many changes that can occur over the next three years. “You can’t make long-term plans at GNBA or too many plans because the landscape changes so quickly that you have to roll with the technology.” The GNBA chairman stressed that while he has a vision for the authority and broadcast sector, there is no guarantee that all outlined would be accomplished by the end of his tenure. “Some obviously will be completed and others will be put in the breach so to speak,” said Craig.