GOVERNMENT’s Chief Whip, Madam Gail Teixeira, noting in the House on Thursday that the amendments contained in the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill 2014 are more problematic than the original bill, denounced the amendments for what she called “a pattern of the Opposition” to remove the legislative powers of the President and ministers, and said, “The Government has examined the first amendments [and] we were willing to sit with the Honourable Member [Joseph Harmon] and go through those things…; regrettably, it didn’t work.”

The Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill 2014, the 13th bill of 2014, was brought to the House by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament Joseph Harmon, who had deferred the first reading of the bill at the last sitting for what he noted were “typographical errors and other errors which required substantial amendment.”

Madam Gail Teixeira has said the new amendments to the principal act were “problematical”, the principal act, the Broadcasting Act 2011, was initially brought in 2011.

Teixeira noted the intention of the Opposition to contort the Parliamentary Select Committee on the Bill as being similar to what was done to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Bill (AML/CFT) in that committee, and she stressed that Harmon had removed the ability of both the President and the Opposition Leader to appoint members to the Board of the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA).

She bemoaned that the process of selection, as mentioned in the amendments, was highly problematic since “The Parliament has no appointive power, [therefore] who then appoints?”

She added that “they [Opposition] removed entirely what was the way the Board [of the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority] is constructed.”

KEY SECTIONS REMOVED
Teixeira disclosed additionally that there were notable sections, coming out of the bipartisan consultations with the Opposition on the Broadcasting Act 2011, which were removed entirely from the current amendments.

“Areas to do with policy issues of the broadcasting policy of Guyana, [such as] the requirements for public broadcast in times where there are [natural] disasters,”
Ms. Teixeira asserted were removed. This was evident in the change in language and intention of key points of the principal act.

Likewise, she noted that a penalty clause, agreed to by both Government and Opposition in the bipartisan talks, was removed entirely.

Such penalties were applicable to “issues that were thought to be so serious that they should not only have a fine, but [also] there should be consideration of imprisonment,” Teixeira continued.

Recognising the Opposition’s unwavering stance in their dissent, the Chief Whip concluded, “We are quite aware in this House that this motion will be passed by majority, but we’re indicating from this point that the Government will not support the amendments in this bill.”

APNU’s Joseph Harmon, closing the debates, remarked: “These amendments are minimal, at best; and they ought to go a little further.”
Written By Derwayne Wills