THE OFFICE of the Prime Minister (OPM) Wednesday justified the airing of programmes produced by government on the Learning Channel, saying that it corrects the information neglect the hinterland faced over the years.OPM said that “programmes of national interest” such as President David Granger’s weekly “Public Interest” interview programme and the Government Information Agency’s magazine news briefs, along with other national programming, will be broadcast on the Learning Channel to the 16 locations to which it broadcasts.

Eyebrows were raised when a programme titled “APNU+AFC First Year in Government” was aired.

“It is regretted that some of the video content provided had been mistakenly branded. All of the video content which was mistakenly branded has been recalled and video content provided will be of a national nature and properly and appropriately titled,” OPM said in a statement.

According to the release, the OPM continues to be in receipt of constant complaints from residents of numerous hinterland villages about not being able to access public information and reports on the work of the Legislature, the Judiciary and the Executive.

It was the OPM which claimed it negotiated with the Ministry of Education for broadcast time on the Learning Channel for public information.

“Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo met with Minister of Education, Dr. Rupert Roopnarine and TLC coordinator, Dr. Sita Roth and an agreement was reached to provide time during non-primetime, late night, hours during weekdays and on midday and afternoon hours at weekends,” the OPM stated.

The timeslots provided are 22:30hrs to midnight on weekdays and 12:00hrs to 13:00hrs and 18:30hrs to 19:30hrs on weekends.

The OPM asserted that the timeslots in no way disrupt TLC’s core educational programming designed for schoolchildren. During weekdays, the late night timeslot is after traditional bedtime hours for children. At the weekends, many children are engaged in sports and recreational activities during the day and early evening.

The OPM added that these timeslots represent a small fraction of the full programme time and amount to less than 7% of the total weekly programme time of 168 hours.

“The Office of the Prime Minister treats the constitutional right of access to information for all citizens most seriously and will continue to pursue arrangements and endeavours, which will ensure that all citizens have improved access to information and are not left insolated and uninformed on national issues.

“The Coalition Government is committed to ensuring that no longer must citizens in our hinterland regions be taken for granted and be shut out from the national information network and suffer from information neglect.”

The government has pushed the setting up of community radio stations, which have thus far been set up at Lethem and Mabaruma and the OPM said there are plans for every region to eventually have its own community radio station, with priority being on hinterland regions.

It is also the plan of the Coalition Government that community television stations will follow community radio stations, the OPM stated.