…CN Sharma application approved after 20-year wait

THE Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) on Friday issued Radio Licences to six new radio broadcasters among them Chandra Narine Sharma (CNS) and the National Media and Broadcasting Company Ltd. – publishers of the Kaieteur News.

Two Brothers Corporation, Pinnacle Communications Inc, Brutal Groups Inc., and Blackman and Sons Inc. were also presented with their licences during a simple ceremony at the GNBA Headquarters, Lamaha Street, Georgetown. Sharma’s approval to operate a radio station in Guyana comes 20 years after he had first applied to the authorities to operate on the radio spectrum.

GNBA Board Chairman, Leslie Sobers, who presented the licences to the broadcasters, said the majority of applicants had applied many years ago and their applications were lingering in the system. “Their applications were lingering for a number of years, and we went through the files and recognised that it is only fit and proper that they be considered,” Sobers told a room filled with media operatives. Once they were fully compliant, he said, the board approved the applications.

The radio licences are in effect from January 5, 2018 for a period of one year. However, the GNBA Board of Directors is considering extending the validity of the licences. “The board will be examining in this year, moving away from these annual licences. We are contemplating a longer period of licences, two to three years as a start, because the law allows for the authority to grant as many as 10 years on a single licence,” the board chairman explained.

It was also noted that some of the applicants, in addition to applying to operate in the primary zone, requested to operate in the secondary and tertiary zones, but approval was granted only for the secondary zone. The spectrum space in the primary zone stretches from Parika to the Abary River and from Moblissa to the southern end of Georgetown.
First-timers thankful

In an interview with reporters, CN Sharma told reporters that he receives his licence approximately 20 years after his initial application. “We took 20 years to get a licence,” he murmured, while thanking President David Granger. His wife, Savitri Sharma, however, expressed disappointment that the new radio licensees were made to pay for their licences without being given prior notice to allow for the establishment of their studios and transmitting facilities.

“I think that GNBA and the authorities should have thought about giving stakeholders a grace period. I don’t think it is fair that you have to pay for a licence for 2018 when you haven’t started up, you don’t have equipment, you have nothing. There was no permission that was granted before to say to us, we should get our act together,” Savitri complained.
According to her, it would take them approximately three to six months, before their radio station goes on air. Mrs Sharma opined that they should have been given at least six months of notice prior to the issuing of the licence.

Head of Brutal Group Inc., Christian Duncan, told the Guyana Chronicle that the company had applied for the radio licence in 2008 under the Bharrat Jagdeo Administration. “We got correspondence from Dr. Roger Luncheon and that was as far as it went,” he recalled.
Duncan said the company re-applied in 2017 following the passage of the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill and is thankful that its application has been approved. “You see we are coming from a Guyanese Music perspective and that is what we have been doing over the years, so we thought that on the merit of that we would have been able to be recognised earlier, but that wasn’t so but now we are and we are pleased,” Duncan said.

Currently, Brutal Group Inc. is putting systems in place to have its radio station on air by the end of February. “We are waiting for our applications for the construction of mass towers to be approved,” Duncan posited. The radio station will be located at Brutal Groups Head office on Waterloo Street, Georgetown. Editor-in-Chief of Kaieteur News, Adam Harris, who represented the National Media and Broadcasting Company, recalled that the company had applied for a licence since 2000. “This application was in since 2000, [and] now that we have a frequency we are now going to buy the transmitters, early next week, we are going to go down to Florida [and] acquire the transmitter,” Harris told reporters.
According to him, within a month the company’s radio station can be on air. Though it will focus on news, Harris said that the programming will be well rounded.

“Nowadays just about every radio station is music, news, talk, we want to be more rounded, so we are working on a series of things, you will get a bit from the religious community,[and the] entertainment community. Because Kaieteur News is largely news, you are going to get an emphasis on news, perhaps news every hour, you are going to have studio discussions,” he explained.

On the sideline of the ceremony, Sobers told the Guyana Chronicle that once other applicants become fully compliant, they too will be issued radio and television broadcasting licences.

He however noted that spectrum in the primary zone is limited. “Of the limited number of spectrum space we have, we can’t give it all out, something has to be withheld for the future,” Sobers said, but noted that there has been a recent indication that the authority may be able to facilitate more radio broadcasters.
Sobers also used the opportunity to tell broadcasters who have been lagging on their fees and other requirements to get their acts together. He said that there are broadcasters who are failing to bring themselves into full compliance. “We will not issue them with licences and when we don’t issue a licence we will call upon them to stop broadcasting,” he noted, while warning that legal action will be taken if needs be.

The GNBA Chairman was unable to say how many broadcasters are in default, but warned that action will be taken. “Some are trying to work out arrangements where the backlog is a lot and they really want a grace period or payment terms, but there are others who are quite blatant and refuse to make contact, but we will deal with them. This year will not pass,” he further warned.

He added: “We are not going to allow them to go on beyond the first quarter of this year.” In addition to the radio licences, the broadcasters were issued with Wireless Telegraphy Licences to operate within the radio spectrum.