WHEN the new Guyana National Broadcasting Authority is constituted, all radio licences will be reviewed.This was recently disclosed by First Vice President and Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, who asserted: “We are shortly putting in place the new Broadcasting Authority, and it would be their responsibility to have an inventory of all licences granted and to undertake a review of all that were granted in conformity with the law.”

The Advisory Committee on Broadcasting (ACB) was established by the Post and Telegraph Act which was repealed by the Broadcast Act of 2011. The new Broadcast Act of 2011 was passed in the National Assembly, and was assented to by former President Bharrat Jagdeo in September 2011.
The new laws mandated establishment of the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority.
However, Jagdeo did not wait on the Broadcast Authority to be established before granting radio licences to several agencies, most of them close to the People’s Progressive Party.

Legal observers said he was in breach of the laws when he took it upon himself to grant the 11 radio and two cable licences. Radio licenses were granted to Radio Guyana, Telecor Cultural and Broadcasting Inc., NTN Radio, New Guyana Co Ltd, Rudolph Grant, Wireless Connections, Hits and Jams Entertainment, Alfro Alphonso and Sons Enterprise, Haslyn Graham, and Little Rock Television Station. The issuance of radio and television licences has, over the years, been a bone of contention under the former Administration.
The then PPP administration had defended Jagdeo’s decision to issue those licences even though it was days before he stepped down from the presidency. Dr Roger Luncheon and former President Donald Ramotar have both stopped short of giving full details in explaining what methods Jagdeo had used in arriving at his decision to grant those applicants radio licences.

The granting of licences has been roundly condemned by media associations. Several media houses, like HBTV, Kaieteur News, Stabroek News, RBS Channel 13, CNS Channel 6, MBC Channel 46, WRHM Channel 7, GWTV 2 and Capitol News, were among those that complained about being sidelined by Jagdeo.