In the light of concerns that the recently-appointed governing board of the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) is almost wholly composed of persons with links to the government, AFC Chairman Nigel Hughes believes that it is time the opposition move to amend the Broadcast Act.
He also echoed comments by veteran broadcaster Enrico Woolford with regard to the expertise of persons appointed to the board. “I have not found any area in which the persons who were identified have the requisite requirements to administer broadcasting,” Hughes told the Sunday Stabroek yesterday.
Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon, on Wednesday announced that the government has approved the appointment of the governing board of the GNBA. The body will be headed by former minister of Human Services and Social Security, Bibi Shadick and the other members are Margo Boyce, Gerry Gouveia, Norman McLean, Dr Dindial Permaul, Charles Ramson Jr and the lone opposition nominee Sherwood Lowe.
Hughes said it is “unfortunate” that Shadick, whom he noted is a former government minister and who has no experience in broadcasting, was appointed chairperson. “It certainly is not in the best interest of the country,” the AFC chairman emphasised, adding that it is time that the opposition amends the existing law.
The Broadcast Act was passed in July 2011, without the support of the PNCR, the main opposition party at the time. It envisages the establishment of the National Broadcasting Authority, with a Governing Board that will comprise not less than four and not more than seven persons, one of whom shall be its Chairperson.
The authority will be responsible for, among other things, establishing classes of licences, the issuing of licences for terms not exceeding ten years and for the suspension and revocation of licences.
The AFC had supported the Bill with the then party chairman and now leader Khemraj Ramjattan saying that it was 95 per cent similar to the piece of legislation he had brought to the House in 2010. Questioned on whether the party’s position had changed, Hughes said: “We certainly believe that the [Act] as it exists clearly does not allow for balanced participation in the composition of the board as evident in the appointment.”
With regard to the amendments they would seek, he said that they would want to change how the board is composed, the criteria for membership and the expertise that is brought to the board.
Earlier, when asked whether the party was consulted in relation to the appointment of the board, Hughes said they were contacted by the Leader of the Opposition but he pointed out that the opposition can only name one person to the board while the government appoints the rest and, according to him, appears to use “criteria that is not applicable to broadcasting”. Hughes emphasised that none of the appointees, as far as he knows, has any history in broadcasting. Leader of the opposition and APNU David Granger could not be contacted for comment yesterday as he was out of town. Chairman of the coalition, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, is out of the country.
Last week, Woolford said that expertise is lacking in the Governing Board of the GNBA, even as he renewed his call for the process of frequency allocation to be made transparent. “The board, from my point of view, would come up wanting in terms of expertise to look at broadcasting and transmission matters,” Woolford told Stabroek News in an invited comment. He said that more thought should have been put in the selection of board members.
Apart from Lowe and McLean, who previously served on broadcast committees, Woolford, with reference to the composition of the board, said that because of the members’ affiliation or perceived sympathies, it does not reflect a cross-section of Guyanese opinion and expertise and experience. He said that those with experience are perceived to be on the wrong side of the political spectrum.
It would have been much more transparent if names were put out publicly and it is seen whether the persons have interest in broadcasting or experience in it, the broadcaster added, while suggesting that the National Assembly should have had a hand in the selection of persons. “I think the whole process needs to be transparent,” he had stressed.
