-Sharma Solomon accused of disregarding PM’s directive

THE controversy surrounding the management of the Linden Television Station has taken another turn despite the efforts of Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo to iron out the issues brewing between the trustees of the station’s board and the regional administration.The Prime Minister, who has responsibility for public information, during a meeting held on March 14, 2016 with various stakeholders in Linden, recommended that the Trust extend its membership. At that time, the trust had five persons: Sharma Solomon, Sandra Vantull, Morris McKinnon, Gloria Britain and the late Mr. Haslyn Parris.

Director of Public Information Imran Khan who related to the media what was said in the meeting, said that the Prime Minister recommended that the Trust be extended to include a wide cross-section of stakeholders in the region. This was echoed by Chairman of the Guyana National Broadcast Authority (GNBA) Leonard Craig, who at a recent press conference reiterated that the Trust was the official, recognised agency of the station and rather than form a new Trust, it was recommended that it be extended.

“The GNBA’s advice to the group was to expand the number of trustees so we can continue to do business with the same Trust rather than upturn the entire apple cart and start over,” he said. In addition to extending the Trust, the GNBA also recommended that it consist of the ordinary people of Linden and representatives from the Regional Democratic Council (RDC), since the RDC was the entity that initiated the process.

Sharma Solomon, who is the secretary of the board, told the media last Saturday that the Trust had been extended by nine members and correspondence had been sent out to all stakeholders present at the meeting with the Prime Minister, to identify representatives who would be legally included as members of the board. “The board immediately held a meeting with all five members and agreed to facilitate and have that bone of contention dealt with and settled by having all those members at the stakeholders’ meeting to be a part of the board,” said Solomon.

These stakeholders include a wider cross-section of interests in the community, namely the RDC, Mayor & Town Council, Neighborhood Democratic Council, Labour, Business, youth, religion, and women. Out of these, the RDC and MTC had not identified representatives. This, he said, was hindering the station from turning the switch on.

“If the licence is placed in our hands this minute, we are prepared to turn on the station the next minute. We are waiting on the people in Region 10 who seem to have concerns which we are addressing about being included on the board, so as to expand it in numbers. Region 10 is holding back Region 10 from getting this matter right,” he said.
Solomon mentioned however that it was understandable that the MTC did not respond to the letter, since a council was only sworn in on Friday. The Linden Chamber of Commerce, the Guyana Trades Union Congress and the NDC, along with other organisations have replied to the request to identify representatives. These organisations had representatives present at the stakeholders’ meeting with the Prime Minister.

Regional Chairman to choose members

Responding to this statement was the Regional Chairman Renis Morian, Regional Member of Parliament Jermaine Figueira, Deputy Director of CDC Sandra Adams and newly-elected Mayor, Carwyn Holland. The team on Monday told media operatives that the correspondence sent by the board and signed by Sharma Solomon was a total disregard of the Prime Minister’s directive, which directed the mandate to the Regional Chairman to choose the individuals from the various stakeholders to be added to the Trust.

Regional Chairman Morian described the letter sent to his office by Sharma Solomon and which was also copied to the Prime Minister as “madness” and showed that Solomon had disregarded the directive of the Prime Minister. “This bordering madness, it also shows that Solomon disregarded the directive of the Prime Minister and I take umbrage to that; when the Prime Minister gave a directive you do contrary and I take umbrage to that,” posited the Chairman.

According to the team, Solomon had the responsibility to furnish the elected representatives of the people with the document highlighting the legal policies surrounding ownership of the Trust and instead of doing that, he sent a directive from the board. MP Figueira revealed that he received the document only last Friday and there are “shocking revelations” as it relates to the legal ownership of the Trust in the document. MP Figueira said that it was unfair for Solomon to say that they were stalling the process when the document was sent only on Friday.

“It is unfair to say that we are stalling the way forward with regard to this TV station and we had no knowledge what the information in the document would have been, we cannot proceed without having knowledge. It is not our intention to stall any process. We are in support of us having the television station. We must also make it known that we applaud Solomon’s effort in regard to leading the way forward in us getting this television station,” he said

The MP also advised Solomon to allow the elected representatives of the people to play an integral role in piloting the way forward. The change in administration he said, must be reflective in how matters regarding the television station are dealt with. “If this is a gift to the people of Linden, it must be owned by the people. We as elected representatives who are voices as it is now, we must have a say in the direction we want this television station to go.” The MP did not object to Solomon being a part of the Trust, but he must allow the elected representatives of the people to chart the way forward.

Deputy Director of CDC Sandra Adams echoed similar sentiments and articulated that there should not be a rush for a committee to be formed if it is not done in the right way. “As usual it is not being followed by Sharma Solomon and his crew in terms of timing. What’s the rush to have the committee formed and not in the right way again? We intend not to be focused on the rush, we are going to do it the way the Prime Minister asked for it to be done, we cannot disregard the people who are running this country,” she said. She also mentioned that Solomon should pass the baton to his successors. “We don’t want to go on fighting and fighting, we are simply asking Solomon and his team to let’s sit at the bargaining table and do it correctly,” she said. Newly elected Mayor Carwyn Holland said that he stands in solidarity with the team and since he was not sent the document prior to the request for a representative, he could not send a representative on a blind date.

Regional Chairman Morian said that the team was asked to bring clarity to the controversy by the Ministry of the Presidency, since he held discussions with Minister Joseph Harmon and President Granger on the issue.