Three matters that made the news in recent days deserve brief commentaries. The first was the statement by President Granger on the granting of radio and cable licences by former President Jagdeo within days of demitting office to a selected few with family and/or political connections, to the exclusion of established media entities that had applied for such licences. The President stated that “[W]e need to adopt a policy or principle. The principle is, if something is wrong, it is wrong and it has to be corrected.” He further stated that the wrongs committed in the radio and cable licences fiasco cannot be corrected by multiplying the cases and hoping that they will even out. This column endorses fully and wholeheartedly the President’s statement which needs to be translated into action as quickly as possible. This column also noted the statement by the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) that “licences appear to have been issued contrary to and in violation of good administrative practices, as the said licences appeared to have been arbitrarily issued to persons and entities with close ties to the decision maker and without regard to prior existing applications.” This column therefore welcomes the GNBA’s decision to review meritoriously all existing applications based on reapplication.
Our second comment is in relation to the leasing of the “Red House” property to a company controlled by the political Opposition for the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre. This property has been leased to the company for 99 years for a nominal amount of $12,000 per annum. The Attorney General has proposed that the Centre be converted to one in which the works of all past Presidents are on display, and not just those of the late Cheddi Jagan. This is not an unreasonable compromise to bring to an end the controversy. However, the entity should be reconfigured into a government company with appropriate representation on the board and funding from the Treasury.
Subject Ministers set policies of a general and strategic nature as they relate to statutory bodies, public corporations and government companies. Given the nature of their operations, such entities are given corporate status in order to provide them with greater autonomy and flexibility, free of direct ministerial control, to manage their affairs. This is in contrast to Ministries, Departments and Regions where there is direct ministerial involvement. It is the respective boards that oversee the implementation of policies.