Radio Paiowomak is a radio station that was set up to serve the Amerindian communities in the Hinterland.

Through voluntary services by the pioneers Virgil Paiowomak and Mike Williams, the community radio station is celebrating 23 years.

The Pepperpot Magazine spoke with Mike Williams who said that he is quite satisfied with the progress made throughout these 23 years.

Williams shared with how it all began for him.

“I would volunteer because I wanted to help, so I spoke to Virgil and asked him, how can I help you? So I came to the station and he showed me what to do, so at that time it was cassettes, so I was trained,” Williams related to the Pepperpot Magazine.

He noted during that he had been volunteering for several years until the radio station was placed under the auspices of the Guyana Broadcasting Corporation, now the National Communications Network (NCN).

Williams also disclosed that he saw the need to help provide much-needed information to the indigenous communities in the region. The station has been receiving a great deal of support over the years.

Another volunteer, Rocky Vanlong, has been volunteering since the station’s beginning. As a young school leaver at the time, he heard that the station was soon coming on board.
“Having our little radio at home, I used to catch a few Brazilian stations, but I was more than anxious to hear what it would sound like, so I glued myself to my little transmitter radio to catch the first bounce of the sound wave coming out of the station,” he said.

But Williams also said that he has plans to have the signals of the radio station reach a village called Fair View which is another indigenous village in the Rupununi community.
“At the moment, our signals do not reach Fair View, so they cannot benefit from our programmes,” Williams said.

Radio Paiowomak 97.1 BINA FM, which serves thousands of people in approximately 20 indigenous communities across Region Nine (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo), is managed by the National Communications Network (NCN), in collaboration with the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB).

Broadcasting from 06:00hrs to 21:00 hrs., Monday through Friday, from Annai Village, the radio station operates with a core of five volunteers.
The Radio broadcasts in two languages, English and Macushi.

Macushi is spoken by the Carib-speaking indigenous people.

According to an article in the Guyana Times dated November 16, 2020, the Government of Guyana is committed to ensuring Guyanese can expect major changes in the production at Government radio stations countrywide

“Radio in these parts of the country is absolutely important. People depend on it for information and rely heavily on it for other purposes. We have to pay more attention to the radio stations here, so that you will be able to have this means of communication, and the people can benefit a lot by knowing what is taking place,” Mc Coy shared during his visit to Region Nine.