WE welcome the announcement by the Hon Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, that the Government would be moving to address the vexing issue of radio and television licenses. This announcement, which came as part of the Prime Minister’s contribution to the budget debate, is long overdue. It is one of the critical areas of Government operations that cry out for urgent attention.
Successive Governments have jealously guarded access to the public media. But the previous Government took it to ridiculous lengths. Whereas previous Governments monopolised the State media, the PPP Government not only transformed the State media into mouthpieces of the ruling party, but as the PM observed, it “doled” out ownership of radio and television frequencies to its friends, relatives and party members.
In what could only be described as a naked rape of Government resources, the then Jagdeo regime in November 2011 awarded 22 frequencies to its friends and relatives. Applications by entities deemed to be unfriendly to the Government were summarily ignored. The end result was that both the public and private media were now owned and controlled by the ruling elite. But more than that, only the Government stations and those affiliated to it by virtue of who owned them have been able to transmit to the entire country. The private TV stations not affiliated to the Government have had to settle for limited transmission capacity despite repeated applications for upgrade.
This is unacceptable. The public airwaves are exactly that–publicly owned. It is part of our commonly owned resources and should be equitably distributed. No political entity, including the Government, should have any unfair advantage. In this regard, the previous Government may have acted unlawfully. The PM is, therefore, on the right track when he suggested that some of the licenses granted in 2011 could be reversed. We do not see how the situation could be corrected outside of the reversal of some of these licenses.
The free and equal dissemination of information is a vital part of an effective democracy. As such, any attempt to disrupt this process flies in the face of equal justice. We have seen the consequences of this gross disregard for fairness. During the last election, the PPP was able, through the State media and its affiliated State media, to get more access to remote areas of the country, particularly those inhabited by Amerindians. This was and is tantamount to electoral malpractice. Despite visits to the Amerindian communities, the then Opposition parties could not match the PPP in this regard.
At a time when Guyana is faced with Venezuelan aggression, it is important that residents in those areas closer to the border with Venezuela have access to more programming that tells the Guyanese story. Those residents and the country as a whole also have a right to hear all sides of our local politics. The political dynasty that controls the electronic media must be dismantled forthwith. There must be balance in ownership of this vital public resource. Democratise the airwaves now. Nothing less will suffice. Over to you, Mr. Prime Minister.