The Guyana Chronicle will soon be housed in a modern building as the administration moves to look after the welfare of the staff and transform the image of the newspaper.
Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo yesterday said discussions on constructing a new building for this publishing house is in progress and disclosed that a funding agency has expressed willingness to undertake the project. With a new board in place, this initiative will now be channeled through the new members to see it to fruition.
The Guyana National Newspaper Limited (GNNL) in the past few years has been flooded during heavy rainfall, and according to Prime Minister Nagamootoo, the new building will take care of the comfort of staff and the interest of the company.
Meanwhile, the new GNNL Board has been asked to investigate if employees who are shareholders have received dividends, pointing out that the company ought to have been making money. “And if it had not, then someone has to answer why not. There is a reason why the employees must be shareholders because the employees are citizens of Guyana and must be able to stand up through their unions to tell the management of the newspaper that we don’t like what you are doing,” the Prime Minister told the new board.
Nagamootoo had also pointed out that sister State agency, the National Communications Network Inc (NCN) has also fallen on hard times, mainly because it did not communicate properly nor was it national.
“It is a network and it is a network that Bish Panday (new NCN chairman) and his team would inherit but still has a lot of cobwebs that have to be cleaned,” he said.
NCN he said has tremendous potential, but yet its reach is not national today as it was before. The Rupununi and the North West District at one time received the Voice of Guyana (VoG) but no long do. “Could you imagine living in Guyana and you can’t receive the Voice of Guyana? How awful it is that you are tuning in and you are receiving the Voice of Venezuela, the Voice of Brazil and not the joyous voice of Guyana? It is an indictment,” the Prime Minister said.
He said he has been in touch with veteran broadcaster Dr Rovin Deodat and from their discussions the prospect for extending the reach of radio appears bright.
There are plans also to extend the reach of radio to the North West District, Region 8, to the Rupununi, beyond Radio Paiwomak or use Paiwomak as a booster and set up other transmitters to take signals way down south of the border.
These plans, Nagamootoo said will be shared with the new NCN Board. And still on NCN, he said that there are also plans to enhance the aesthetic of the building, pointing out that the company has the money to carry out these works. A Bob cat will be taken to the company to do some clean up works while 14 derelict vehicles will be removed.
The new board also heard that NCN was owed in excess of $600 million, but has managed to cut this down to $200 million. NCN, the Prime Minister said is not in debt but in receivables. The pile up in receivables occurred with the company continuing to engage persons who owe it outstanding sums. This will happen no longer, said new Chairman Bish Panday. NCN can be transformed with good leadership, Nagamootoo said.

By Tajeram Mohabir