NCN, GINA staffers lead Public Buildings protest
HEADS of Departments and other employees of several State agencies that will be adversely affected by the proposed budgetary cuts, took to the streets yesterday in protest against the move by the Parliamentary Opposition, comprising A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC). The National Communications Network (NCN),  Government Information News Agency (GINA) and the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) staffers were among those gathered outside Public Buildings on Brickdam, Georgetown, denouncing the motions circulated in the National Assembly on Monday, by  APNU and the AFC, proposing to reduce the 2012 national budget by $20 billion.
Speaking to the Guyana Chronicle on the picket line, GINA Director Neaz Subhan said he believes it is a deliberate attempt by the Opposition Leaders to muzzle its operations, because of how closely it is linked to the government.
“We provide relevant information to government’s programmes and policies to keep the nation informed, not only Guyanese here but people overseas depend a lot on GINA to get information about the government’s works in Guyana throughout the region and we believe this proposal is a direct attempt to try and stop that, so people would not be kept abreast of what is happening here,” he said.
Mr. Subhan said he is of the view that persons and, moreso members of the Opposition, are unaware of the tasks that are being undertaken by GINA and noted that the subvention given to the agency is not used to pay staff but to carry out other functions that benefit every person in Guyana.

RELEVANT  INFORMATION
“In simple terms, they are trying to prevent people from having access to relevant information, the operation, it’s a clear case that what people at GINA do is not only about paying staff but what about printing stuff, all these booklets and other information materials that we do and a lot of these things are accessed by schools and students come into GINA through their teachers ever so often to uplift information materials,” he outlined.
Subhan said the agency is responsible for printing materials pertaining to Guyana. “It’s not just information there for government development, it’s also about providing this information to have them available when it is necessary.”
According to him, persons need to get a better understanding of GINA and its operations before labelling and pinning tasks and reasons for the subvention that are incorrect and false.
“I think they need to have a better understanding about GINA and what we do, so that people would know exactly what we do. It is unfortunate that they don’t know of these things,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NCN, Mr. Mohammed Sattaur said this call by the Opposition, to cut the budget for NCN, would mean that 30 per cent of the staff working at the entity would have to be sent home.
He emphasised that, without the subvention, NCN will no longer be able to produce and air the regular number of programmes that are being broadcast currently.
Sattaur said NCN is the only channel which provides live coverage for many local activities in Guyana and pointed out that the company would not be able to thrive on the money that is generated through advertisements alone.

ONLY STATION
“For you to have local production, you need to have some kind of subvention and that is why NCN is the only station which produces all these local programmes,” he contended.
He said the annual live coverage of Mashramani would not be possible without this much needed subvention and the entity could not function, effectively, in that regard.
Sattaur said: “As you know, NCN provides programmes that are not really commercially viable to the nation. Our coverage, for example live coverage of Mashramani, there is no way that we could make money out of that. We have 28 members of staff out on the roads with camera and equipment…when we total up the cost of producing local content, it becomes economically unfeasible for you to air that content on local television.”
He highlighted the fact that NCN is the only channel that has been providing coverage of many other developmental programmes, whether it be through sports or education.
Sattaur continued: “We produce boxing and we have been highlighting it and it is shown in the entire Caribbean and it is produced right here in Guyana. Fashion, for example, we have a blooming fashion industry that is headed by Sonia Noel who receives support all along the way to make that a reality… the fashion industry now employs a lot of people and all of these things are not really possible without the subvention.”
He stressed that the television channel would not be able to remain on air for 24 hours if there is no subvention since the airing of the many programmes, that includes the  use of a large amount of electricity and the cost is, most times, more than $100,000, which is more than the subvention given to the company.

Placard-bearing protesters outside Public Buildings yesterday.

STOP TRANSMISSION
“NCN would not be able to be on air for 24 hours and all of these take electricity and it is more than a $100,000 and this is more that the subvention for us to maintain local broadcasts all across the country and, in order to take immediate steps, what we will have to do is stop the transmission on the 24-hour basis and go to a start-up time from 6 o’clock and go to ten o’clock,” Sattaur suggested.
He said the national television station has a mandate to keep the country aware of what is going on in the event of any national disaster and, with this cut in hours, no one will be aware of any such situation after hours.
“NCN is tasked with the responsibility of putting out the national disaster signal and the bars and the high-pitched tone alerts the nation and so, if we have a national disaster after ten, nobody will know and this will lead to crisis,” he cautioned.
Sattaur said selling ads to meet this amount of money needed is really not possible with 19 other stations that are not investing in local production.
NCN, currently, has 152 full-time staff and 70 other contracted employees who all contribute to the successful production of programmes that are being aired on television and radio across Guyana.
The combined Opposition has been calling for a slash in the 2012 budget by $20 billion, mainly for agencies under the Offices of the President and Prime Minister and the Ministry of Finance.
Protesters are calling on APNU and the AFC to retreat from the motion, maintaining that it would lead to a crisis, leaving many people out of work and families hungry.
Among the slogans the protesters carried said ‘NCN Budget cuts mean no learning channel for our children’, ‘Opposition jealous for PPP government workaholism must stop’, ‘AFC/APNU why do you want to close the Integrity Commission’ and ‘More cuts, more expenses, higher GPL bills’.