Bibi Shadick makes special radio licence

rules for American citizen

Former President, Bharrat Jagdeo, days before he demitted Office in 2011, allocated a number of radio frequencies to friends, family and party, including a company owned exclusively by an American citizen.
This occurred despite the fact that Chairperson of the Guyana National Broadcast Authority (GNBA), Bibi Shadick, had said this could not be done.

Bibi Shadick

In fact she had told operators that companies that have 50 per cent or more ownership, by a non-Guyanese, would be ineligible to receive licences.
Shadick in November last year, called in all operators and told them that they would have to re-apply for licences, be it radio or TV.
She informed the operators that they would have to ensure that their companies are incorporated, thus making them shareholding companies with a minimum two directors.
This posed a problem for at least one operator who had applied and had as a partner, a Guyanese who was a US citizen and was listed as the 50 per cent owner of the company.
According to Michael Bess, owner of Atlantic Cable Network (ACN), he had in the past worked with a Guyanese associate, who later migrated to the US and subsequently gained US citizenship.
According to Bess, he had set up a company and named his associate, who by this time re-migrated to Guyana, as 50 per cent owner of that company.
Shadick objected, and on those grounds the company was refused a licence.
The same, however, did not seem to apply to Telcor and Cultural Broadcasting Inc which is owned 100 per cent by an American citizen.
This company was incorporated by Attorney-at-Law, Jaya Manickchand, the sister of Government Minister, Priya Manickchand, in 2009.
The Articles of Incorporation, part of the public records, list as a Director for the Company, Kamini Persaud, the wife of then Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud.
Kamini Persaud, is also the niece of Jagdeo.
The other director was listed as Ruth Baljit, the sister of Minister Persaud with her listed address as 1106, Virginia Avenue, New York, US.
The company was incorporated with 500,000 shares and each annual return filed, lists Baljit, a US citizen as the sole shareholder.
This means that the company Telcor and Cultural Broadcasting Inc. is on paper, owned exclusively by a US Citizen.
Kaieteur News understands, too, that the company was struck off the Registrar’s Companies List for failing to file annual returns.
It was restored to the Companies List in October, days before Jagdeo would have approved it for five radio frequencies.
Dharamchand Depoo, the Company Secretary uplifted the Licence for Baljit who lives in the United States.
Jagdeo’s gifting of Guyana’s national resources, the airwaves, to certain close friends, family and his political party, has come under increasing scrutiny following the forced disclosure by the Prime Minister in the National Assembly earlier this year.
The bending of the rules to allow a non-Guyanese approval for the operation of new radio stations to especially close friends of Jagdeo and the ruling party, would be significant as there had been strong objections from existing media houses.
Several prominent, independent media entities including Kaieteur News, Stabroek News, CNS 6, WRHM 7, RBS 13, Capitol News, HBTV 9 and GWTV 2 were all bypassed by Jagdeo.
Yet, Jagdeo also gave to Dr. Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop, his close friend, his party’s newspaper, the Mirror, five frequencies each.
He approved frequencies to a number of others but only allowed them one frequency each, limiting them in their coverage.
The former President has also come under criticisms for granting cable television licences to two companies –E-Networks Inc. and Quark Communications.
Both companies have Directors and shareholders with close links to him.
Both companies along with Global Technology, on which Ramroop, his close friend, sits as a Director, are now set to receive Telecommunications licences.
These will pave the way for a small group of friends, all close friends of Jagdeo, to control the media and telecommunications industry – an industry worth billions of dollars and which was virtually handed to them for free.