Latest update April 28th, 2026 12:30 AM
Administration deliberately delaying broadcast legislation – Corbin
Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Robert Corbin has stated that the delay of the implementation of Broadcast legislation is a deliberate act.
Presidential Adviser on Governance, Gail Teixeira, on Thursday, last, in the National Assembly, said that the delay is as a result of limited drafters and that the drafting of such legislation is difficult. Teixeira explained that they wanted modern legislation, but Corbin said her explanation is a mere excuse. The Opposition Leader said that it was as a result of her statement that they dedicated more than half of their weekly media briefing to deal with the issue.
“What happened since 2001 as it relates to the broadcasting authority legislation? There can be no difficulty for any draft man preparing legislation for National Broadcasting Authority.” Corbin said that since the setting up of the joint committee which was established by the Opposition and the President, detailed guidelines were agreed to and are in a report.
He added that all that is needed is for the legislation to reflect those drafting instructions.
“What happened in 2005 is that there were draft men who applied their knowledge to the task and what they did, obviously under instruction, was to create a draft, and I do believe that legal draft men would not produce a draft if they were not so directed….What they did was to produce a draft which did not take account of what we agreed to.”
The opposition leader said that six years later the Government is embarrassed and consequently withdrew the draft and is now saying it has to be revised.
“Why take six years for a document for which the guidelines have already been outlined? This is just another scheme by the government to control the local media and hinder freedom of the press,” Corbin posited.
Following the 2001 election, the late Desmond Hoyte agreed with President Bharrat Jagdeo to establish several bi-Partisan Task Forces/Committees.The joint committee on Radio Monopoly, Non-Partisan Boards and Broadcasting Legislations was set up in May 2001.
Corbin pointed out that the Terms of Reference for that committee required attention to six specific issues namely: the state monopoly in radio broadcast, a non-partisan Board for the Guyana Chronicle, a non-partisan Board for the then Guyana Television (GTV), a non-partisan Board for the then Guyana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) , a non-partisan Board for the National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU), and the enactment of broadcast legislation.
Subsequently, in 2003, Opposition Leader Robert Corbin and President Jagdeo inked a communiqué which stated that the draft broadcasting legislation which will include provisions for the creation of a National Broadcasting Authority, would be ready for consultation within two months and be laid in the National Assembly within four months from 1st May 2003. This never happened and Corbin has since been questioning the commitment of the current administration to stick to the agreed provisions.
The independent National Broadcasting Authority, it is supposed, would be the licence issuing authority for all “commercial” licences for commercial frequencies for radio and television.
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