More startling NCN revelations…Ads were being aired for free

Sep 02, 2012 News

Recent revelations by a whistleblower revealed how at least one senior finance official at the state-owned National Communications Network (NCN), placed for free, several advertisements belonging to a heavy equipment company run by a close family member.
Strangely enough, the ads were running as Public Service Announcements (PSAs) on both NCN Channel 11 and the affiliated radio station, 98.1 Hot FM.

Resigned: Mohamed ‘Fuzzy’ Sattaur

According to leaked copies of the NCN’s daily radio and television records, the company and that of a prominent internet and cable entity were the only ones listed as PSAs.
According to a well-placed NCN official, PSAs simply meant that the ads were free.
This latest revelation would be more fuel for an opposition which has already blocked a budgetary subsidy for NCN for over $65M. The opposition had called for more accountability and balanced coverage by the state agency. They have accused NCN of being heavily biased in their coverage against the opposition.
Last year, NCN admitted that it raked in more than $500M in revenues, raising eyebrows on why it would need government allocations.
More than two months have passed since a government-ordered probe at the state-owned National Communications Network (NCN) ended with the resignation of its most senior executive and the suspension of his deputy over what emerged to be wrongdoing.
Despite calls from the Parliamentary opposition for a wider investigation into all aspects of the entity which controls the government’s radios and television stations, there has not been any response to date.
Yesterday, NCN’s Chairman, Dr. Prem Misir, indicated that he had just returned to the country and would have to be briefed. He advised Kaieteur News to call back tomorrow.
Following a report by accountant, Harryram Parmesar, at the end of June, NCN’s Chief Executive Officer, Mohamed Sattaur, handed in his resignation while Production Manager, Martin Goolsarran, was given an eight-week suspension.
The issue has been a major embarrassment for the new government with numerous questions being asked on the extent of wrongdoing at NCN.
The investigation was ordered by the Office of the President to probe allegations of financial irregularities that occurred between September 2011 and February 2012, regarding payments for the GT&T Jingle and Song Competition.
GT&T had contracted NCN to provide production and broadcasting services for the competition between September and February. Several staffers were questioned during June 14-18, including NCN’s Finance Manager, and other senior departmental officials.
The probe was triggered when GT&T’s CEO, Yog Mahadeo, raised the red flag after Goolsarran for a second time had presented an invoice for over $3 M in his personal name, instead of NCN.

Suspended: Martin Goolsarran

Mahadeo refused to pay and GT&T had launched its own audit. A number of senior officials of the telephone company were sent home, including the Chief Financial Officer.
However no penalties were imposed on private advertising agencies and other persons reportedly involved in what seems to be a huge racket at NCN, as the audit was done.
Members of Parliament of both the Alliance For Change and A Partnership for National Unity, made it clear that they were of the opinion that the probe of Parmesar did not delve deep enough.
This newspaper understands that there were direct conflicts of interest that not only stemmed from managers’ offices, but from the board room as well as the operations room of NCN.
The Parmesar report made it clear that both the CEO and Goolsarran failed to carry out their duties diligently and professionally.
“They have knowingly breached the company’s internal control procedures. Their actions in dealing with the GT&T Jingle and Song Competition clearly demonstrated conflict of interest.”
The report also recommended that the Board of Directors should take necessary actions, including legal ones, to recover loss of revenue for all amounts paid to any individual.
There were allegations that advertisements were transmitted on NCN’s programmes for which there were no payments. The names of the staffers who processed these transactions are also known. There were also direct leaks of information from the board level to at least two companies, both advertising firms, which benefited from contracts and rates.
The revelations about financial impropriety at NCN have rocked the country since hitting the media in June.
Government had declined to release the report on the findings of the investigations. But it was leaked to a parliamentarian. AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan has called for criminal charges to be laid against both Sattaur and Goolsarran.
The investigations revealed that no verification was done on another critical record, the Broadcast Log, to ensure “all billable broadcasts are being invoiced to the customer. This could result in loss of revenue to the NCN.”
This was the first signal that ads were being aired, but clients were not being billed.