IN the first-ever undertaking of its kind in Guyana, radio broadcasters from some six of Guyana’s regions participated in a training and sensitisation workshop at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre last weekend.

The pioneering Regional Radio Workshop initiative, which will certainly benefit all Guyanese, was coordinated through the Office of the Prime Minister, with Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, himself a journalist, taking the lead role in bringing the historic idea to fruition. The ground-breaking workshop adds a new and important dimension to the development of radio broadcasting in Guyana. By taking this next logical step, government has launched another phase of advancement in the dissemination of accurate information to citizens. Broadcasters will now be equipped to provide more accurate, relevant, and high-quality content to Guyanese throughout the country.

The training sessions were attended by some forty participants from across Barima-Waini, Demerara-Mahaica, East Berbice-Corentyne, Cuyuni-Mazaruni, Potaro Siparuni, and Upper Demerara-Berbice. Training was provided to the broadcasters — many of them Indigenous, hinterland-based Guyanese — in a wide range of topics and disciplines including information accuracy, broadcast procedures, radio-station management, as well as constitutional law and other statutes and regulations, such as the Amerindian Act, which may be relevant to their work.

This advanced phase of development of radio broadcasting in Guyana which is intended to raise the bar by improving the quality of the content of broadcasts follows the first step which was the initial establishment of hinterland radio stations, a process which continues.
Prior to 2016, only one hinterland radio station existed. Fortunately, after being elected to office, the APNU+AFC administration, through the Office of Prime Minister Nagamootoo, moved quickly to ensure that all Guyanese throughout Guyana’s regions had access to information via radio. In May 2016, Radio Lethem went on the air in Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo followed by Radio Mabaruma in June in the Barima-Waini Region. Radio Aishalton in Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo began broadcasting in February 2017, and Radio Mahdia in Potaro-Siparuni, and Radio Bartica in Cuyuni-Mazaruni started operating in October and November respectively.

In April 2018, Radio Orealla switched on. Radio Essequibo, the seventh hinterland station, is due to go on air at the end of the year; the transmitter has already been installed at the station building in Cotton-Field. Prior to those developments initiated under the APNU+AFC administration, the more than 113,000 Guyanese residing in Guyana’s interior had neither ready access to news and information, nor any easy way to market their products or share information within and among their communities; many hinterland residents said that they felt as though they were not even a part of Guyana. Evidently, the country has advanced a long way, even though the coalition has been in office for fewer than four years.

Remarkably, even though development of regional radio began only three short years ago, the programme is now beginning to mature. And, as the administration continues to make good on its promise to ensure that all Guyanese have equitable access to accurate, up-to-date, relevant information, the responsibility remains with citizens throughout the country to make use of that information to improve the quality of their lives.