Jagdeo’s master plan is to dominate the communications industry – Ramjattan

“The master plan is to take over the minds of Guyanese and to control the communications industry.”

AFc Leader Khemraj Ramjattan

This is the view held by Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan, who was at the time speaking to the fact that many of the radio stations in operation now have been lambasting his party and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU). This lambasting is more evident when it comes to matters such as the amendments to the Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Laws. “Just as they control the financial structure, they now want to control the minds of people,” said Ramjattan. He said that the “they” he was speaking of was largely Bharrat Jagdeo and his “cohorts”. Recently, operators of several television stations announced that they were moving to court to challenge a hefty hike in the broadcast fee. The amount is a minimum of $2.5M. Operators, signaling intentions to file court action to challenge what they describe as a 1,000 percent increase, have been accusing the administration of wanting to close them down. Commenting on the licence fees, Ramjattan said that this is but another aspect of the ploy by the administration to take over the industry and run certain operators out of business. He said that even some of those that would have been issued with licences would soon find it hard pressed to

Managing Director Glenn Lall

be able to stay in business and would have to end up selling their licences to the wealthy. Dr. Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop is a close friend of Jagdeo who was allocated five frequencies along with his permission to broadcast. Ramjattan likened the monopoly in the airwaves by the administration as similar to the control of the financial structure of the country and the economy in which a few wealthy elites benefit. The Member of Parliament was also convinced that it was a deliberate ploy by Jagdeo to approve licences to a number of others knowing fully well that they will not be able to stay in business for a very long time and will have to end up transferring their businesses to the wealthy. “The master plan is to control the entire country and its landscape,” said Ramjattan. Asked about supporting the proposed amendments to the Broadcast Act that has been suggested by APNU’s Joseph Harmon, Ramjattan answered in the affirmative. “We will definitely support it,” said Ramjattan. Less than a week before he left office, Jagdeo greenlighted several new radio stations and two cable operations to his close friends. The issuance of the licences and the manner in which they were done have since attracted court action by several private media operators as well as protest actions.

Bharrat Jagdeo

Legal challenges were filed by the National Media Publishing Company, publishers of Kaieteur News, and the Guyana Media Proprietors Association Limited (GMPA). It named Attorney General, the Minister of Broadcasting, National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU), Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) and the recipients of the licences. Several prominent media houses were inexplicably overlooked for licences, including Capitol News, Stabroek News, CNS Channel 6 and Kaieteur News.

Dr. Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop