Stabroek News
August 19, 2001

The joint broadcast committee has reportedly endorsed the new licensing regulations promulgated by Prime Minister Sam Hinds, but recommended that the Prime Minister should not be the final arbiter of the standards to be met by the industry.

It suggested that this function should be given to a three-man Interim Advisory Committee (IAC) appointed by the President, but two of whose members would be nominated by the Leader of the Opposition and appropriate representatives of civil society. The third member, the committee recommends, would be appointed by President and would chair it.

The regulations were referred to the committee last month for its recommendations by President Bharrat Jagdeo and PNC/R leader, Desmond Hoyte, following one of their now-suspended dialogue sessions. It is expected to be among the first items to be discussed when the dialogue resumes some time after President Jagdeo returns from the Rio Group meeting next week.

Hoyte had asked that the regulations be held in abeyance until the committee had submitted its report in which would be recommendations as to the type of broadcast regulations that should be enacted. He felt too that the Prime Minister's actions, which he said included interfering with the work of the bauxite committee, would undermine the dialogue.

President Jagdeo disagreed with these assertions and Hoyte suggested that the dialogue be suspended until the wider issues of the relevance of the work of the committee in the areas for which they had been appointed.

Stabroek News understands that the broadcast committee recommended that the regulations be adopted as an interim measure until appropriate legislation was enacted. This process could take as long as nine months.

It pointed out that the clauses referring to the content of programming were in keeping with the broadcasting policy, which it had already examined and agreed on. It said too that it had included similar conditions in the draft broadcasting bill it would recommend to President Jagdeo and these conditions were in keeping with those set in the legislation in those various countries it had looked at.

The committee said it had agreed that until new broadcast legislation was enacted any regulation of the industry should include, as an important aspect, the strengthening of mechanisms for self regulation by licence holders as the primary mechanism for industry monitoring of broadcast standards.

The interim regulations the committee says should assist in

weaning the licence holders into a more organised and regulated sector and that during this period, work should be done with them to improve their standards and conformity to acceptable broadcasting standards practiced throughout the democratic world.

Stabroek News understands too that the terms of reference of the Interim Advisory Committee would, among other things, be to administer the approval of broadcast licences; to monitor the adherence to or breach of broadcast standards by licensees; to receive and investigate public opinion or complaints on broadcast standards and to take appropriate action in cases of violations of the conditions after due process of investigation.

The terms of reference also provide for the IAC to maintain a working relationship with such bodies as are established by the industry to enforce broadcast standards.