A small country like Guyana needs 45 radio stations? This is madness. I don't agree with the govt being the ultimate judge of who should get or not get radio license. There must be some transparent metrics to determine the process of awarding radio license. However it must be judicious as in the wrong hands a radio station will only give the opposition an outlet to foster more "mo fiah slow fiah" and perpetuate "kill the cockaroach" ala Rawanda.
45 applicants.
A small country like Guyana cannot sustain more than 3 radio stations and with internet radio on the scene it will even be more difficult for some of them to survive.
However that's not the issue at this time. The issue is the denial of Radio licenses and the process of how the few were handed out.
So then, who decides who gets these few licenses?
I think it is an easy decision, let us not reinvent the wheel. Let us look to mature democracies to determine how it is done.
True, but Guyana is far from a mature democracy and is tainted by ethnic and other divisions. 45 is too much, but let's say 8-10, then there need to be a robust and equitable process granting license so one one feels shorted.