Jagdeo shares out airwaves to friends…Bobby Ramroop has nine TV and radio channels Mirror newspaper gets five radio channels Deputy Permanent Secretary in Robert Persaud’s Ministry gets five too

Mar 19, 2013 News

Just before he left office, former President Bharrat Jagdeo farmed out the airwaves for his friends, those close to the government and a few others, it was revealed in the National Assembly yesterday.

This action was an abuse of power, said one parliamentarian. Further, it was revealed that while the government has been inviting applications for TV stations, just a few more channels are available to be assigned.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds revealed that Dr Ranjisinghi Ramroop, the man Jagdeo publicly declared to be his best friend, has Channel 28 and three other links to that station, which could effectively allow him to broadcast across the country.
Further, Hinds made it clear that the very month Jagdeo left office (November 2011) he, Jagdeo, gave Dr Ramroop five radio frequencies. The President acts as the Minister of Information and it is under his hand that licences are issued.
The Prime Minister was responding to questions posed by Cathy Hughes, Parliamentarian with the Alliance for Change. Her questions were sparked by mounting controversy over the granting of radio and TV licences, particularly to Ramroop and China Central TV.
Yesterday, Hinds said that China Central TV does not have a licence; that its programmes are broadcast on channels assigned to NCN.
Regarding new radio licences granted under Jagdeo, the Prime Minister revealed that the New Guyana Company Limited, which publishes the Mirror newspaper, and belongs to the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) was granted five radio frequencies. The contact person for New Guyana Company Limited was listed as Dharam Kumar Seeraj, a Member of Parliament for the PPP.
In addition, a certain Telcor and Cultural Broadcasting Incorporated, was granted five radio frequencies. The contact person for that company was given as Mr Omar Lochan, who is believed to be a relative of Priya Manickchand, a senior government Minister. Lochan is listed as the Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, under Minister Robert Persaud.
Apart from those, in the month before he left office, Jagdeo gave one radio frequency each to other persons. These are NTN Radio (Anand Persaud), Rudy Grant, Wireless Connections (Maxwell Thom), Hits and Jams Entertainment (Rawle Ferguson), Alfro Alphonso and Sons Enterprise (Alfro Alphonso), Haslyn Granham and Little Rock Television Station (Rockliffe Christie).
In December, 2010, Jagdeo also granted two close associates of the PPP permission to broadcast television signals on the 2.5 GHz band, which allows for cable TV operations and internet-related services.
These persons were Vishok Persaud, the son of longstanding PPP stalwart Reepu Daman Persaud, and Brian Yong, who mounted the PPP platform in 1996.
Regarding television stations, the Prime Minister said that only six more television stations can be assigned using current formats for television broadcast in Guyana.
Hinds said that determining the availability of channels for broadcasting depends on many factors. These include transmitter power and specifications, height of antenna, and location of proposed transmitters.
He said that given the propagation characteristics of sound broadcasting signals in the medium frequency (MF) and high frequency (HF) bands frequency availability is not based on national considerations only. International frequency usage and results of international notification and coordination are some of the considerations that would determine frequency availability, Hinds stated.
Frequency usage in the very high frequency (VHF) and ultra high frequency (UHF) bands etc., in border areas, would also be informed by coordination with neighbouring countries, the Prime Minister claimed.
He said that to give a rough approximation (from a radio frequency standpoint) in the Georgetown area (the area with the highest demand), at least 10 more channels in the VHF band (FM sound broadcasting) can be assigned.
One more VHF channel can be assigned for television broadcasting and in the UHF band approximately five channels are available for assignment for television broadcasting.
However, he said that countless other radio and television channels could be made available when there is a change in broadcasting formats.
According to the Prime Minister, if Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting (DTTB) is introduced here, there is the potential for “hundreds of television and sound feed programmes/channels.”

He said DTTB is now common in many countries worldwide and the analog format is expected to be brought to an end worldwide in the not too distant future. The switch-off date for analog TV signals is June 17, 2015, for many European and African countries.
Guyana television broadcast is still analog (a broadband taking up much frequency space) .This country will be following the transition to DTTB, Hinds said, but a date has not yet been set.
He said that this analog to digital TV broadcasting switchover, while offering many benefits to viewers (including the capacity for additional television feeds/programmes), will introduce a very different scenario and the National Frequency Management Unit is currently working on this issue.