Thursday May 15, 2014
Kaieteur News
Page 5
Letters... Where your views make the news Letters... Where your views make the news
Ramroop media empire a real attempt to monopolise broadcasting DEAR EDITOR, I refer to the front page headline of the Kaieteur News on Saturday May 10, 2014 which declared that CJ Chang cancels $2.45 million TV Licence. He did no such thing! This ruling is typical of Justice Chang’s rulings, which are now becoming notorious for not addressing the fundamental issues of the matter before him. Justice Chang was asked to rule that the annual $2.5 million broadcast fee was unconscionable in view of the fact that it had the capacity to remove the smaller broadcasters from the air. Most of them are not making the kind of money to warrant such a large fee, and in fact it would be impossible given the small advertising marketplace in Guyana and the
number of stations on the air. He was presented with evidence and arguments that the smaller broadcasters are making no money at present. He was also presented with evidence and arguments that where there was just the NFMU fee, there will now be an additional fee of $2.5 million or 3.5 % of gross income, whichever is greater representing a massive 1000 % increase in total fees. 3.5 % of gross income or $2.5 million assumes that the broadcasters are earning in the vicinity of $71.4 million a year. This is an impossibility. If most of them are earning $30 million in any year it would be a miracle. And if they are in New Amsterdam, Linden or Lethem it would be even more miraculous. As such this massive
increase in fees has the potential, and I believe the intention, to establish monopolies and oligarchies and force the smaller operators out of business, thereby violating the citizens’ of Guyana fundamental right to free speech. I would like to remind your readers, that when a small broadcaster is removed from the air through these irresponsible or deliberately offensive fees, not only is his freedom of speech violated, but the rights of all of those who would like to hear the views of the programmes his channel airs, even if they conflict with theirs, are also violated. To give an example as to how far down the rabbit hole we have gone in this country, the Minister of Education told
Stop playing politics with the lives of Berbicians DEAR EDITOR, Prior to the return of Democracy to Guyana in 1992, we in Berbice played a major part in helping to make Guyana a democratic country for all Guyanese. Whereby we can live and work together as one people, one nation and one destiny. The aim of bringing democracy, according to the PPP\C and the great Dr. Cheddi Jagan, was to have a free and open process whereby electorates can support any political party of their choice without being marginalized in society by the present day government. Berbicians welcomed that initiative with open hearts and threw their support behind the PPP\C, and most of all behind the strong leadership of the great Dr. Cheddi Jagan. Dr. Jagan was always said to be fighting for the working class of this country and to create a better Guyana for all without playing politics with the lives of our people. And we all know that Dr. Jagan was welcome in every community in Guyana no matter their race, religion, culture, sex, status, etc. He was indeed the father of the nation. After the PPP\C came into power due to free and fair elections, we saw lots being done to put Guyana on the World map by Dr. Jagan. During his tenure in office as President of this country we saw development coming at a rapid pace in all sectors of Guyana and also he paved the way for investors to feel comfortable in investing in Guyana. He was a man of the people by fighting for the cause and most of all he was a leader who never used
politics to gain the hearts of people but used issues of concern to win hearts into politics. That is why I can safely say that in the years Dr. Jagan was in office as President he was never fingered in any corruption cases or found to be corruptible. Since the death of this great leader Berbicians have had the opposite to deal with. We had the politics that Dr. Jagan would have never used to win votes. He would have never used the cuss down politics that we have since seen being used by members of the PPP\C. This type of behaviour Dr. Jagan would have never tolerated, and most of all, some of those presently serving in high ranking positions would have never had the chance to. Since Bharrat Jagdeo took office we have seen more of the unimaginable behavior in politics and the worst for Guyana. Many will argue that he has done better than the rest, but let’s look deep as to where we are today because of him. Many times we fail to understand what this man has done to this land of ours. Every single day we the Berbicians are being fed with misinformation from the PPP\C members and we are bugged with programmes of untruth on NCN Channel 15 in Berbice. We in Berbice are educated people we cannot be used anymore. If the PPP\C is so concerned about the lives and welfare of Berbicians since the death of Dr. Jagan, they would have made Berbice a better place for all. I will like to ask the PPP\C administration a few
questions. How many new investors have invested in Berbice since 1997? How many jobs were created? (And please don’t talk of sugar and rice employees). How much was spent on developing our young people? What was done to develop the lives of the poor, working class? Where is the free education that we used to have? Where is the better representation for the working class? How many qualified and experience Berbicians (living in Berbice) find a top job with this government\administration, especially if they belong to a different political party? Where are the better recreational facilities for our people? Why is it that our youths who just graduated from UGBC/TI/Secondary School or some institution have to migrate to other regions to find jobs? And I can go on, but let this corrupted PPP\C government answer us in the correct manner. We are fortunate to have people like the Nand Persaud family, who operate a wide range of businesses that help to create thousands of jobs for Berbicians, young and old. Hundreds of youths comes out of Secondary school and cannot find a proper job suitable to their qualifications, and those that find favours in getting a job, work with the regional administration or government agencies without a vacancy being published or existing. Take a clear look at the regional offices in both regions 5 and 6, who are the ones employed in various (Continued on page 23)
us last week in the newspaper that Ramroop is now broadcasting his signal through links to satellite which combines his signal with that of the Learning Channel. That makes the cost of up-linking the Learning Channel cheaper. We are now forced to ask by how much? And since these two signals are now so inextricably linked, we don’t know how much of the uplink cost is being borne by him and how much is being borne by the taxpayers. Also in all the locations where the Learning Channel is operating we must know if Ramroop gets special concessions to carry his broadcast on their assets e.g. towers, buildings, security etc. and if he does then what is that cost to him? The opposition must demand an answer. However it’s difficult to demand answers when you do not really understand the problem. Since the taxpayers are financing the Learning
Channel, an arrangement like this between Jagdeo’s buddy who is also getting massive contracts to be the sole provider of drugs to the government, is doing exactly the same thing in broadcasting by creating a national radio and TV network unfairly. People tell me about Ramotar’s Presidency, and I have to laugh, he must know that when exposed, that this will be an embarrassment to him and highlight further the corruption in his government. And since only Jagdeo’s friend is benefiting from this, I ask ‘Who is President? I would like to say that according to the Kaieteur News of May 11, “Under the new rules for prequalification, local companies that meet the criteria would be favoured above overseas bidders” This offends articles 169,170 &171 of the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. Two of the companies thus excluded will be Trinidadian and because Trinidad is the
seat of the CCJ and this matter violates a major Caricom agreement, they can immediately appeal directly to the CCJ for relief. And they should. These alliances given the political nature of the situation can make the Learning Channel substantially more expensive than if they allowed the Ministry of Education [MOE] to do it themselves. We MUST know, since the best friend of Jagdeo and Jagdeo himself can be setting up to have countrywide, biased political broadcasting, through satellite connections which are developing even as the Learning Channel develops for Ramroop’s benefit, creating an uneven, unconstitutional playing field between him and his broadcasting competitors, just as they are trying to do with the sale of drugs. This was probably the reason why Ramroop magically produced a satellite uplink, when in fact I did not (Continued on page 23)
A despicable travel experience to Suriname from Georgetown DEAR EDITOR, For the benefit of others planning the trip, I wish to share my unpleasant experience travelling to Suriname last week via road from Georgetown. We left Georgetown by private car at 4:00am in order to catch the Moleson Creek ferry to Suriname scheduled to leave 10am. We left so early because the Berbice Bridge opened at 6.30am and closed at 8.30am on that particular Sunday morning. It takes approximately three hours from the Berbice Bridge to the stelling in Moleson Creek to board the ferry to Suriname. Check-in at Moleson Creek closes off at 9:00am. The ferry showed up 45 minutes late, and after waiting for other passengers to disembark and the customs officers to finally arrive we boarded the ferry at approximately 11:30 am. Disembarking in Suriname is the most chaotic experience. Travellers, who are clued-in on how it works, sprint from the ferry to the immigration door. There are two lines, one for residents and one for nonresidents for approximately 200 passengers. Car drivers exiting the ferry join the residents line which moves faster than the non-residents. A passenger can literally expect to spend at least two hours before leaving immigration. Luckily I only spent an hour because someone I was travelling with
had sprinted to the front of the line and the officer called for all other persons travelling with them. There is no consideration for pregnant women, elderly, or persons with small children. The road to Suriname is smooth, thereafter, but the journey to return is another disappointment. After arriving in Guyana, the sprint to customs is once again set in motion. This time, however, drivers are not as fortunate to be given a separate line. This meant that even if you were travelling with a driver and cleared first, you could be forced to wait for at least an hour before your driver is cleared since he/she has to join the back of the line. As I waited furiously 20 minutes for my driver to be released, a young woman approached a customs officer demanding that her driver be expedited to the front of the line because she apparently worked for the Office of the
President and needed to be in town by 12 noon. No official ID was asked for as evidence by the customs officer, so I protested against such favourable treatment. Possibly this was the lone reason both drivers were directed to an immigration officer for clearance. It is distasteful that both countries are promoting a wonderful experience on various websites but a simple customs and immigration task cannot be effectively coordinated. There needs to be better communication and organization between the Guyanese and Surinamese authorities. Moreover with a little coordination, the opening of the Berbice Bridge could better harmonize with the Moleson ferry’s schedule. As a Guyanese citizen, I must say I am really dissatisfied. It is an experience I hope no one else has to suffer. Teshanna Cox
To be blatant in the... From page 4 government’s commitment, it may be noted that while the electoral system was determined sometime ago, three elements that are provided for in the Constitution were excluded from the legislation. The provision for the recall of non-performing councillors has been omitted. The representation of lower organs on higher organs has not been included in the leg-
islation, and the provision for village councils and their elections have been omitted. These are all indicators of how much the re-birth of democracy has been embraced in relation to local government and its governance. The aforementioned are fact-based contentions that can stand scrutiny, unlike the daily blame game to which we are exposed, while Rome burns. Vincent Alexander