THE People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) has bemoaned the racial connotation assumed in sections of the media in reporting on the matter of the issuance of a number of radio licences. Party Executive Member Anil Nandlall, who yesterday weighed in on the issue, said it smacks of “ethnic profiling.” According to Nandlall, only four of the licences issued apply to persons of Indian descent, while five have been issued to persons not of Indian descent, but there are photographs of primarily Indian licensees being portrayed almost on a daily basis, while little is being said that persons such as Rudy Grant, Haslyn Graham, Hits and Jams Entertainment, and Alfro Alphonso and Sons have all been issued with licences as well.

According to Nandlall, there is a geographic and ethnic balance in the issuances of the various licences. “Ethnicity has been made an issue, and what is unfortunate is the manner in which it is portrayed in some quarters and some media houses, that a deliberate impression is being conveyed that only persons of a certain ethnicity have been granted licences.”
The PPP/C Central Executive member said the ruling administration has always held as priority a bringing together of the peoples of Guyana, hence its lamentation of the ‘ethnic profiling.’

Reminding media operatives that the matter is currently engaging the courts, hence his pronouncements would have to be constrained, Nandlall said that even the top listed defendants in the writs are persons descended from Indians.  

“I am saying that the manner in which this radio licence saga is unfolding in the press smacks of a degree of irresponsibility, and in fact falls prey to ethnic profiling of the applications… These are notions that the PPP/C would want to reject, because we are concerned.

“Our position has always been that, while we champion (the) cause of freedom of(the) press and accord it the highest priority in our legal framework, we have been very emphatic in our insistence that this right carries with it  responsibilities.”

The Attorney General told media operatives that, between 1992 and 2011, there have been installations of over 20 private television stations across the country, as well as addition of two daily newspapers – all done under the current administration.
Many of these entities have not generally been supportive of the administration, he said; and some have, in fact, been highly critical. Despite this, the administration has never used its executive powers to impose sanctions.

Nandlall recalled that there has been only one instance of suspension of the licence of CNS TV 6 because a sanction had been imposed, but he said that even that suspension did not reach the point where the CNS6 licence had been revoked.

This option, he said, was a prerogative of Government at the time in addressing the extant issue.   
Addressing what he deemed a questioning of the Government’s commitment to freedom of expression, Nandlall said that manifestations to the contrary can be traced back to the party’s inception in 1950. He said the PPP/C can relate directly to what it means to be denied freedom of expression, even as he recalled the party’s newspaper being denied the right to import newsprint to print its newspaper, when it had failed at the time to convince the highest court in the land that the denial was in fact a denial of the freedom of the press.  

“We understand its importance,” said Nandlall, pointing to the Constitutional Court established under the current regime where such matters can be heard in an expeditious manner. This, he said, was the tenet of a Government that embraces the principles of democracy.

“These are not things that an undemocratic regime or government would do,” he contended.