Dr. Ramroop lied about radio stations

Mar 20, 2013 News

Dr. Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop, who by virtue of being the best friend of former President Bharrat Jagdeo, acquired five radio frequencies, had claimed that he got these through the court.

Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop

Dr. Ramroop has since stated that “neither the government nor former President Bharrat Jagdeo ‘gave’, ‘granted’ or ‘awarded’ to Queens Atlantic Investment Inc. any television or radio licences.”
He added that he bought the television station, VCT Channel 28, back in 2008 from Anthony ‘Tony’ Vieira. He claimed that with his purchase of VCT and all its assets, he acquired the radio frequency and further secured it in the court.
However, at the time of the purchase, Vieira Communications Limited did not possess a radio station. The pirate radio that broadcast on 100.1 FM had been confiscated by the National Frequency Management Unit.
Vieira moved to the courts and secured a decision from Justice Jainarayan Singh that the decision to deprive him of the radio was to deny him the right to freedom of expression. The state appealed but it was not until Vieira had sold Vieira Communications Limited that the decision came.
The Appellate Judges were Chancellor Justice Carl Singh, Justice B.S. Roy and Justice Yonnette Cummings-Edwards.
They ruled that the redress was granted under Article 153 for the contravention of Vieira’s fundamental rights guaranteed by Articles 40, 146 and 149 of the Guyana Constitution.
When Jagdeo decided to liberalise radio two weeks before he demitted office he shared out radio frequencies, giving five to Ramroop.
Since Vieira merely won the right to own a radio it was palpably dishonest for Ramroop to claim that he got the radio frequencies when he bought VCT. And even if he did buy one radio station, which he did not, he would have only got one frequency.
“How come they (Kaieteur News) didn’t say CN Sharma was ‘given’ a television station? The television licence I bought goes back a decade before his,” he said in a statement.

Bharrat Jagdeo

Even that statement smacks of gross irregularity. President Jagdeo had said that licences could not be sold or transferred. Dr. Ramroop may have bought the company and so enjoys the licence. The licence was not for sale, Khemraj Ramjattan said
Dr. Ramroop indeed purchased VCT and all its assets, which he boasted he paid handsomely for, Ramjattan added. However, radio frequencies were not assets of the sold communications network.
Armed with that court order, Dr. Ramroop was then handsomely rewarded his five frequencies by his best friend, just before that friend left office.
According to recent information released by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, the five radio stations given to Ramroop were only issued in November 2011, and then by Jagdeo, who had only days to leave office.