A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) nominee on the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA), Sherwood Lowe says that Broadcast Act of 2011 is “flawed” in several aspects.
Lowe made the remarks at a press conference yesterday at APNU’s Hadfield Street base in the city. The party also called on the government to halt any action on new broadcast licences and to allow those licenced practitioners to continue operating until a properly constituted body is set up.
Lowe noted that when the bipartisan committee was set up following the Hoyte-Jagdeo engagements, the idea was to achieve particularity and public confidence in how bodies such as the broadcast authority carry out their mandate.
“What this controversy is about is beyond, well we all know what the government is about, but why would a government choose to enact a legislation infringing on the rights of Guyanese to express themselves,” Lowe queried.
He said there is “no magic” in terms of crafting legislation for a country. He added, “we find ourselves with a bill that is very flawed in many aspects… It’s very disappointing and shows we have a lot more work to do as a country and specifically to get the legislation right.”
He said that there are a lot of established laws and best practices including the FCC (Federal Communication Commission of the United States) which can be examined in crafting the legislation. He said too that there are already agreements within the local set up which can be used to easily craft an “acceptable” broadcast law.
The party said it continues to receive expressions of concern from broadcasters and other stakeholders on the broadcast legislation, “more so since the publication in the press of a Public Notice that President Donald Ramotar signed as Minister of Information.” This advertisement called for existing broadcasters to apply for a licence for the continuation of their service by September 27, 2012 under what APNU referred to as the “contested” Broadcasting Act of 2011.
“APNU is already on public record that it plans to table amendments to the broadcast legislation immediately after the end of the parliamentary recess on October 10, 2012. This will be in line with our commitment to uphold the letter and spirit of the recommendations of the 2001 report on the Joint Committee on Broadcasting and State Media Boards,” APNU said in a press release.
It said that even with the legislation in its current form, the government is ill advised and insensitive to the concerns of broadcasters to force them to apply for a licence “when the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority is yet to be appointed, much less to have met to discuss its own modus operandi.”
APNU said that broadcasters, therefore, have little idea how and where to apply. “More critically they are completely in the dark with regard to any new terms and conditions that may be imposed on their operations,” APNU said.
“APNU supports the growing call for fairness, impartiality and predictability in the execution of broadcasting legislation in Guyana. This can only be achieved by a properly revised broadcasting law and a suitably constituted and autonomous broadcasting authority,” the release said.
“APNU strongly advises the government to withdraw the public notice forthwith (and initiate tripartite discussions to amend the formula for the composition of the GNBA in line with the recommendation of the 2001 report of the Joint Committee on Broadcasting and remove the provisions that infringe on the right of freedom of speech of broadcasters and others),” APNU said.
The party also recommended that the government clarifies the power of the minister to instruct the GNBA and the role of the NFMU. It wants government to appoint a reconstituted GNBA in line with the agreed new formula.
Government must also provide adequate resources for the GNBA to allow it to begin to work to fulfil its mandate in a professional and autonomous manner, characterised by broad consultations and consensus, APNU said. It wants too the continuation of existing broadcasting licences, pending the completion of preparatory work by the GNBA.
“APNU is convinced that with a display of good faith and political maturity by the Government, the present anxiety and uncertainty within the broadcasting community will be quickly allayed,” APNU said.
The party said that putting those recommendations in place should not cause delays to the work of the Authority in the licensing of both existing and new broadcasters.
A vague statement from the office of the President on Saturday said that President Ramotar is responsible for information in the Cabinet. The statement said that re-licensing “is so standard an exercise under such conditions that the queries of the broadcasters and their concerns about licensing raised by the opposition warrant direct consideration by the authorities.”
