Broadcast body mulls Channel 28 suspension
Kaieteur News
June 17, 2004
Kaieteur News has reliably learnt that the Advisory Committee on Broadcasting (ACB) will be moving to suspend the broadcasting licence of VCT, Channel 28 for three episodes of commentaries broadcast over the station by its owner.
These commentaries were designed to create racial animosity and incite race hate crimes, according to the ACB.
Kaieteur News has learnt that in one of the commentaries featured during the third week in May, the broadcaster appealed to racial feelings and urged a certain race group to form themselves into an organized movement to oppose the domination of Indians and Africans in Guyana.
“They must stand together as one people and with the right leaders, they can call the shots…They have been marginalized but it is my job to tell them how important it is for them to stand together for real strategic advantage and benefit and not to accept token nonsense,” a section of the commentary read.
A source close to the ACB told this newspaper that one aspect of the commentary is dangerous and obnoxious. “Everywhere around us we see (deleted) getting all the breaks behaving as if they own the place and the rest of us (deleted) are getting little of the national pie.”
In one part of the speech, a call is made for a certain group to rise up. In another section of the commentary, three Cabinet ministers are referred to as criminals.
“Ministers (names deleted) are criminals, using the state’s money to carry out political agenda.”
In referring to a particular group, the station owner said, “They assume a role far in excess of the importance of their numbers of this nation.”
The ACB will also cite another commentary on Channel 28 in which the speaker referred to the right of the light-complexioned business class to rule Guyana since the lower, dark- skinned class are in power and they are “thiefing”.
The ACB is planning to sanction the station for a third outburst, in which the owner referred to people being ugly because they have African genes.
Kaieteur News also understands that Channel 28 will be written to, and be informed that a personalised attack on two Kaieteur News officials is a violation of the regulations governing broadcasting.
At the Office of the ACB yesterday afternoon, Oxford-trained historian, Pat Dyal, said that he cannot discuss the planned decision of the ACB before those decisions are made public.
Asked if there is imminent closure of Channel 28, he said he cannot answer that.
When pressed to say if there have been discussions about the nature of commentary over Channel 28 by the ACB, he conceded, but claimed he is not at liberty to disclose what was said.
When pressed again to say if there has been complaints against the owner, he answered in the affirmative, but again stuck to his position that he will not disclose the details.
Asked if found guilty of infringement of the regulations governing broadcasting, the station will be suspended, he said that if the ACB finds incitement to hate-race crime was committed, then section 23A of the regulations permits suspension.
Section 23A reads “(a) The licensee shall ensure that nothing is included in programmes which offend against good taste or decency or is likely to encourage or incite racial hatred or incite crime or lead to public disorder or to be offensive to public feelings.”
One media specialist told Kaieteur News that the ACB suspended Channel 9 for lesser offences and the ACB will be accused of partiality, if it fails to do likewise to Channel 28, given the infringements committed by that station owner.
An ACB official told this newspaper that the referral to the Prime Minister repeatedly by the owner as an “idiot” should have warranted immediate suspension.