Our right to private radio stations is constitutionally guaranteed

Dec 11, 2012 Letters

Dear Editor,
I write to commend and support Guyanese who have taken a principled stand against Bharrat Jagdeo’s vindictive decision to grant radio licences to some and deny it to others during the last days of his 12-year misrule of Guyana (Radio licences granted days before Jagdeo’s departure…Applicants deem Jagdeo’s action dishonest, partisan, KN 12/9/12).
I also call upon President Ramotar to show his regard for fairness and national harmony by reversing Bharrat Jagdeo’s miscreancy and disclosing the name of each individual or organization that was granted a radio licence by Jagdeo.
When the PPP was in opposition it railed about the PNC’s monopoly of radio in Guyana, and by insinuation and declaration, raised expectations that a PPP government would without delay or favour allow private radio stations. Well, we now know that the PPP, as is the case on issues of transparency and accountability, was all talk. But we would not have been disappointed if we had been guided by the PPP’s support for radio monopoly in communist countries rather than by its self-serving wailing about the PNC, whose action on radio was in conformity with that of the PPP.
Times are different, though, and we will not allow any government to self-servingly dictate the amount and variety of means by which we will access information. Our constitution guarantees, and our courts have affirmed, our right to private radio stations; and we will have them, now!
After Justice Ian Chang made a constitution-affirming ruling that forced a reluctant PPP government to consider its years-long practice of studiously ignoring applications to operate private radio stations, many Guyanese thought that the granting of licences to the litigants and other unapproved applicants was a fait accompli. But Bharrat Jagdeo mocked the court by refusing to establish any mechanism to ensure that the court’s ruling would be instituted, and highlighted his mockery by granting licences to organizations and persons that are either known friends of Mr. Jadgeo or supporters of the PPP, and were also more recent applicants than many or all of those who sought the court’s intervention and/or were denied licences.
President Ramotar came to office and has established a body to consider applications for radio and television licences. But many believe that the newly-established Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) is nothing more than a transparent attempt to mask the PPP’s self-serving disregard for our constitution and courts. Their belief is based on the GNBA’s first act, requiring new applications from all unapproved applicants, including those litigants in the case decided by Justice Chang.
With such an inauspicious start and a government dominated presence, I believe that the GNBA has inspired very little confidence in its ability to fairly or competently discharge its constitutional responsibilities. I fail to see how the GNBA’s chair Bibi Shadick, who is scandalously unqualified in both matters of communication and business, can make proper judgments about the quality of business plans that must be submitted with each application. What kind of contribution can we expect from such a firmly established political hack?
Do we really believe that Ms. Shadick would be more concerned with granting licences to applicants interested in disseminating information for the convenience and benefit of our country than she would be with those interested in disseminating information for the benefit and convenience of the PPP? Or have we forgotten that the PPP arrogantly believes that the fate of our nation is inextricably linked to the fate of the PPP?
We are stuck with the ominously comprised GNBA and all that it portends for constitutionally-guaranteed press freedom in Guyana. But we are not hopeless and without choice, for the constitutional right to freedom of the press is one that we should and must exercise, even if the government doesn’t want us to. So, as a people, we have to decide if we will continue to allow our governments to pass new rules and regulations to vitiate court decisions they find to be inconvenient or to nullify constitutional provisions they find to be constraining. We also must remember that Guyana and its resources belong to all of us and we as a people must never remain silent when our leaders act as if our nation’s resources are their personal property, to be distributed without disclosure as they see fit.
Lionel Lowe

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