Dear Editor,
Reference two articles in the Kaieteur News of January 20 (both blurbed on page one) the first of which was captioned ‘Guyana hogtied by Jagdeo’s secret deals‘ and the second, ‘Kaieteur, Stabroek News denied radio licences.‘
The first matter, ‘Guyana hogtied by Jagdeo’s secret deals‘ describes deals for a Marriott Hotel to be built for $52 million, the extension of the Cheddi Jagan Airport for US$140 million, the US$835 Amaila Falls hydro project and the US$40 million extension fibre optic cable to Brazil being laid by the Chinese using Chinese labour. Some of these deals were signed weeks or days before the 2011 elections and Dr Luncheon is maintaining that they are written in stone and cannot be cancelled since if cancelled the government would incur onerous penalties.
Dr Luncheon referred to Trinidad and Tobago where the Patrick Manning administration had “committed the administration to build and supply considerable security hardware and they had committed to spending enormous sums of money” but the incoming PM Ms Kamla Persad-Bissessar “pulled the plug on the project at considerable cost to the taxpayers of Trinidad& Tobago.”
The awarding of the four projects cited above, were not legal transactions since acting in secret President Jagdeo violated the laws of this country concerning competitive bidding and transparency. By participating in these secret deals as far as the people in Guyana are concerned, the persons with whom they were signed should have been aware of this illegality, or at least, had they done their due diligence they would have been made aware that they were engaging in a process which violated our laws. If that is so, they could not possibly claim any force majeure in any of these transactions. There should therefore be a cancellation of all of these contracts until they are done in a manner consistent with our laws, and I have competent legal advice that there would be no penalties, contrary to what Dr Luncheon opines.
Secondly, the awarding of the 12 radio licences is also completely illegal and any licences for communications, including the one for cable, should be immediately rescinded. Since 2001 as a result of the dialogue between Messrs Jagdeo and Hoyte, it was agreed that no new licences for either radio or television would be issued until an impartial and autonomous National Broadcasting Authority was formed. The communiqué from Messrs Corbin and Jagdeo indicated that this agreement had been ratified, ie that no licences would be issued until the Broadcasting Authority is formed. During the 11 years which followed, this provision was used by the government to deny anyone a TV or radio licence, even stations existing at the time (2001) were denied permission to expand their service since it would mean granting them additions to their licences. Channels 6, 9 and 28 wanted to expand to Essequibo, Linden and Berbice, and they were prevented from doing so by the National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU). Channel 28 had already extended to Berbice before the 2001 dialogue, but wanted to expand to Essequibo and Linden and was prevented by the NFMU from doing so. Other persons, such as Channel Seven’s Rex McKay and Mr Enrico Woolford and numerous others had applied for a radio licence more than 12 years ago. This is why we must have a functioning judicial system and why these executive powers have to be modified, since whenever they are abused, as happened under former President Jagdeo, the entire country suffers.
Contrary to the understandings of both the dialogue and the communiqué every one of the 12 licences issued by former President Jagdeo was either to his own friends or the PPP’s friends and supporters. This was not the recommendation of the 2001 bipartisan board, which was convened as a result of the dialogue; that board recommended that ownership should be balanced and reflect the ethnic composition of the areas which they serve.
The opposition should pass a motion rescinding these licences immediately and should support the agreements which say that no new licences will be granted until the establishment of a National Broadcasting Authority.
Yours faithfully,
Tony Vieira
