AFTER a long wait of seven years for the issuance of the television station licence for the Linden Broadcasting Network, the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) on Friday presented the letter of approval to secretary of the Trust Company of the station, Member of Parliament Jermaine Figueira. It was written to the chairman who is the current sitting Regional Chairman, Renis Morian. Also present at the ceremony was Legal Adviser and Assistant to the Minister of State, Mrs. Geeta Chandan-Edmond.

Presenting the letter was Chairman of the GNBA Mr. Leslie Sobers, who noted that the application has satisfied all the necessary requirements of the GNBA. Figueira said he received the letter with a spirit of satisfaction, knowing that it is something the residents of Linden fought for with sweat and blood. “This fight lead to a promise by the David Granger administration and now it has been delivered.

We are happy and most pleased that our collective fight as a community was not in vain and another promise of His Excellency has been fulfilled,” he posited. He reiterated that the entity is owned by the people of this community and it will be used to the benefit of the people. “No longer will we be left of out the loop due to not having access to information.

This is a forward ever, backward never approach, this government has made and will continue to do not only for communities like Linden that were marginalised by the PPP/C administration, but for all of Guyana.” The National Communication Network (NCN), has already identified the equipment to be used for the television station and the channel identified is 13.

Last week, Minister of State Joseph Harmon described this development as historical. Presently, Lindeners are benefiting from limited channels received by the National Communications Network (NCN) which provides a weekly news broadcast.
There are now three board of directors for the station: Morian, Figueira and Linden Mayor Waneka Arrindell. Initially, there were 14 directors on the board.

The application for a television station was made after residents complained about the limited and biased content that they were subjected to. The government signed an agreement to grant the licence, August 21st 2012 after a deadly protest which resulted in the killing of three Lindeners. The expiration date for licence is December 31st 2019