Dear Editor,
Enough is enough! I am tired of the constant deceit of the government about the promised broadcast legislation. For the past 19 years, they have been fooling the people of Guyana, more especially since 2001 when as a result of the dialogue between Mr Hoyte and Mr Jagdeo, the bipartisan committee on broadcasting made recommendations which were agreed by both the PNC and the PPP. These were to lead to legislation and the formation of a Broadcast Authority, and no new licences were to be granted to anyone until the authority was formed.
During this time, the de facto Minister of Communi-cations, President Jagdeo, has been betraying this agreement between himself and Mr Hoyte, and using the excuse that the Broadcast Authority has not yet been formed, has denied me the right to extend my service to Berbice, Essequibo and Linden.
Enough is enough! I am tired of the political victimization against me. My business has suffered, my family has suffered, and my workers have suffered. It seems to me that since the Head of State relieved the Prime Minister of this particular portfolio and kept it in his own hands, he has used it against me and any private broadcaster who is not supportive of the PPP.
The President seems to have a problem with people, myself for one, who he claims are ‘rich people.’ Let me make it clear that whatever income I have, has been acquired through years of hard work.
This administration, which parades itself as being investor friendly for the benefit of the international community, is definitely not demonstrating it in my case. Government is preventing me from reaching my full potential as a businessman and in doing so, they are also depriving me of my constitutional right to free speech. As a Guyanese businessman and television station owner, I have the right to be able to reach all across this country with my transmission signal, especially since it is now apparent that the excuse he used to deprive me of expanding my service for 10 years was a farce. He has promised an educational channel, and we know what education will be broadcast on that, and an inter-faith channel, which is an attempt to control the religious leaders in this country.
This move exposes the gross disrespect that President Jagdeo has for meaningful dialogue and agreements between government and any other party. This should not be allowed to happen and all television stations and media outlets should be allowed a level playing field.
I sincerely hope the regional and international organizations, the international financial institutions and the diplomatic community are taking note of the attitude of this administration towards me and other private channels, and this restriction on our freedom of speech in general, since the government’s monopoly of radio still stands in this country.
General elections are getting closer, and it is clear that the ruling party does not want the other contesting parties, including my own, to be able to reach out to the entire nation through television. It is a gross violation of our rights. It is most unfair that, while myself and other political parties are restricted in this manner, the PPP over the past 10 years has been able to reach the entire Guyana coast and Linden through the state television (NCN Ch 11) in violation of the government’s own policy. For example, 10 years ago NCN did not operate a tower and a transmitter located in New Amsterdam for which a licence is needed, but one is there now. I therefore conclude that whilst the NFMU has been used to restrict some television stations from expanding, they have not done so in the case of NCN and government-friendly stations.
Yours faithfully,
C N Sharma
Managing Director
CNS Ch 6
