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Radio and cable licences distribution…President Ramotar must correct this wrong
– Enrico Woolford
Veteran broadcaster Enrico Woolford is maintaining his strong stance against how the radio and cable licences were distributed by former President Bharrat Jagdeo.
In a recent television interview, Woolford described the radio frequencies as a natural resource of the country and one must defend what it is being used for. According to Woolford, there is the need for guidelines to be put in place. He explained that the problem lies with the management and the people who are at the forefront of the distribution. Woolford said that those people who are at the front know nothing about the issue and the people who know about it are at a different end of the political spectrum.
Woolford dismissed claims of him being bitter, saying that Guyanese need to understand that the former President did not use his discretion when handing out these licences. He further stated that the entire process was “badly administered,” adding that the wrong has to be unwritten by President Ramotar.
Meanwhile, Parliamentarian Cathy Hughes described the entire situation as a travesty which was done to Guyanese, adding that President Donald Ramotar should immediately review and reverse it. Hughes further noted that if the Private Sector Commission and Chamber of Commerce who have an important role to play, this is when we need to hear them say the licences need to be revoked.
Enrico Woolford
The issue of limited spectrum has also been a cause of much concern in Guyana after former President, Bharrat Jagdeo, used his executive powers to grant several persons, including his party’s newspaper, The Mirror, five frequencies to broadcast across the country. Representing Mirror is Dharamkumar Seeraj, a PPP Parliamentarian. This happened days before his Presidential term was due to end in November 2011 when General Elections were held.
The move has widely been seen as carefully planned by Jadgeo and the ruling party to control the airwaves of Guyana. Jagdeo also granted five radio frequencies to his personal friend, Dr. Ranjisinghi “Bobby” Ramroop and another five to Omkar Lochan, Permanent Secretary of Natural Resources Minister, Robert Persaud.
Persaud happens to be the nephew-in-law of Jagdeo. The former President did not stop there. He also granted two television cable licences to close associates–Brian Yong and Vishok Persaud. Persaud is the son of the late former Government Parliamentarian and Agriculture Minister, Reepu Persaud, while Yong was a candidate for the ruling party during the 2011 elections.
Reportedly, the 2.5 Gigahertz band to Persaud and Yong are capable of offering other services, including catering to smart phones and the popular tablets computers. Radio and telephone services could also be offered using this band.
There have been several protests by local media houses which had applications in for radio licences but were inexplicably sidelined when Jagdeo made his decision. There are indications that no procedures were followed and that the former President merely used his executive powers, knowing he had days left in office. The Donald Ramotar administration, hard pressed to recall the licences, has defended Jagdeo, saying he did nothing wrong. The administration was silent on accusations that one businessman – Maxwell Thom- was granted a licence although he was facing financial problems in 2011.
One of the criteria was for the applicant to show that he/she has the finances. Both Kaieteur News and Stabroek News, two independent newspapers, were sidelined by Jagdeo. They and others are now being asked to submit fresh applications. Radio and television licences have been a sore issue between the Opposition and Government with an agreement brokered in early 2000 for no new ones until reforms in the broadcasting legislations. This was passed in the National Assembly during 2011. Jagdeo did not wait on the mandated Broadcast Authority to handle the licence despite the new law.
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