30-second delay on Voice of the People
The four month suspension of CNS Channel 6 expires tomorrow and the station will resume its normal broadcasting schedule just after midnight tonight.
Proprietor of CNS 6, CN Sharma told Stabroek News yesterday that he would be broadcasting all the same programmes at their traditional times, although measures would be adopted to ensure that inappropriate content was eliminated.
CNS 6 had been closed in April for infringing the terms of its broadcast licence after a caller to the Voice of the People programme had threatened the life of the President, and this had then be re-broadcast on three separate occasions.
Sharma said yesterday that where Voice of the People was concerned, there would be a 30 second delay during which operators would require callers to give their names, addresses and phone numbers before they would be allowed on the air. There were some instances, he said, such as in the case of abusive callers, where they would not be permitted broadcast time at all, but information would be taken from them and letters written on their behalf to the relevant authorities.
The ban had been instituted by President Jagdeo on April 11, acting in his capacity as Minister of Information, and it had attracted criticism from various media and rights organizations both local and international as being too severe a penalty and because the head of state had made a decision in a matter in which he was the aggrieved party.
A press release from the Office of the President at the time had said that Jagdeo was the sole authority vested with the power to decide whether a licensee had breached the terms and conditions of their licence and whether any sanctions may be imposed. The release had gone on to say that the relevant act provided that the minister may suspend or cancel the licence for breaches.
The CNS proprietor did seek relief from the courts, but that was not successful and he said that he had now moved to pursue damages. He went on to say that the sloth of the court system had taken on prejudicial connotations as he was still awaiting decisions on matters concerning the interest of the station.
Sharma said that the suspension had affected transmission equipment and moreover the channel had lost important personnel. He regarded the closure as an attempt to cripple him financially, although he added that it had been foolhardy from the perspective of revenue collection as he paid on a monthly basis $800,000 to the Guyana Revenue Authority.
He said that it was his conviction that the suspension was tantamount to a vicious attack on the freedom of information and the voice of the ordinary people. CNS 6, he said, would continue its outreach programmes to highlight the hardships prevalent in the respective communities of Guyana.
In addition, despite what he regarded as a manifest attempt to frustrate his political activity, the developmental and revolutionary thrust of the Justice for All Party which he leads would continue.
A recent letter in the Stabroek News by Vishnu Bisram said, “An opinion survey conducted in mid-July by the North American Caribbean Teachers Association (NACTA) has found that most respondents miss watching Sharma’s TV station… and TV viewers eagerly look forward to the resumption of programming.
“Even government officials say they miss the station, especially the popular ‘Voice of the People,’ which has made CN Sharma a household name. He has become one of the most popular personalities in the country. People of all backgrounds and political persuasions disagreed with the severe penalty imposed on the TV station for its infringement of the broadcasting code.”
