– Essequibo broadcaster claim they tried to force him to sell operations

CHAIRMAN of the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) Leonard Craig said allegations of corruption levelled against board members Anthony Vieira and Victor Insanally will be fully investigated.Kaieteur News on Wednesday reported Kenwin Charles, a broadcaster in Essequibo as saying that two GNBA board members tried to force him to sell his operations to a prominent businessman.
In a statement to the media, Craig said if the allegations can be substantiated, it will constitute a major blow to the integrity of the members concerned.
“I will carry out a complete investigation of the facts relating to matters raised by Mr Charles, I will review the reports of the meetings, elicit a response from the members concerned and will release an official statement in the coming days,” he said.

According to the article, Craig and Vieira do not get along, and this has been hampering the work of the board. Craig, while not denying the claim, pointed out that he is not unwilling to work with Vieria, though Vieira has been “abusive” and “obstructionist” towards him.
“I have displayed extreme restraint and immeasurable patience and have continually pledged to work with him and all other members of the board to achieve the best objectives and ensure [the] public interest is served,” he said, even as he tried to explain the slothfulness of the work of the board.
“I wish to admit that our work is not as advanced as I had envisaged it should have been at this juncture. This is attributable to the fact that when we assumed office, the Authority was a far cry from what a regulator of this nature should be. As much as there was a regulator in place, the broadcasting landscape remained largely unregulated, weak administrative and compliance structures existed. As such, through its various committees, we set out to build an Authority literally from scratch,” the GNBA Chair said.
Since assuming office, the board has developed rules of procedures for the operation and functioning of the board; commissioned a website (located at www.gnba.gov.gy) and established a social media presence; drafted guidelines which include a code of practice for the monitoring of broadcasting; conducted a limited broadcasting survey to help inform of the realities of the sector, which will help to shape policies; drafted new regulations for the management of the broadcasting landscape, including the establishment of zones and new and more manageable fee structures; reviewed and established new financial structures and procurement policies; engendered a marked improvement in the relationship between the authority and broadcasters; implement human resource policies which lifted the morale of the entire organisation; held several meetings and consultations with broadcasters to solicit their views on developing a well regulated environment; and adopted a programme-rating regime to ensure that broadcasting in Guyana falls in line with internationally accepted moral practice draft guidelines for the evaluation of new applications.
“All of these are necessary and unavoidable forerunners to the development of a well-managed, transparent and level broadcasting landscape.
“I understand the impatience of those who have made applications to become broadcasters and those wishing to see a reversal of the barefaced giveaway of the national airwaves by the then President Bharat Jagdeo and wish to assure those applicants and the general public that I share this burden and is [sic] working hard to guide the board in the direction of reviewing all existing licences and grant new ones in time for January 2017,” the GNBA Chair concluded.