Skip to main content

US$35M cable from Brazil a convenience for Jagdeo’s friends

MARCH 19, 2013 | BY  | FILED UNDER NEWS 

-    E-Networks teamed up with Huawei on WiMax service
-    Then Huawei gets US$35million cable contract
-    Brian Yong, E-Networks are beneficiaries of cable

The recent exposure of the way in which broadcast licences were issued shows how former President Bharrat Jagdeo may have created a special clique of his friends and associates to benefit from massive projects being funded by the Guyanese taxpayers.
More questions are now being raised about why Jagdeo secretly rushed to sign a US$35 million deal with Chinese company Huawei to bring a wireless cable from Brazil.

Bharrat Jagdeo

Now it seems that the cable deal was brought into the picture to make it nice and easy for Jagdeo’s friends to control the national spectrum.
Jagdeo granted two persons cable licences on the 2.5 GHz band in December 2010. These were E-Networks, under Vishok Persaud, the son of Reepu Daman Persaud, a stalwart of the ruling People’s Progressive Party, and Brian Yong, who Jagdeo invited to mount the PPP’s platform in the 2006 elections.
The services offered by the two men, such as 4G, require both the availability of licenced airwaves – also called spectrum – from the government, and considerable private investment in infrastructure.
In early December 2010, Persaud introduced his company’s WiMax 4G Network.  He launched the service the very month that he was granted a licence, indicating that he set up his technology with the assurance that he would be licenced.
The same goes for Brian Yong, who started putting his infrastructure in place and waited to be handed his licence on a platter in December 2010.
The story becomes even more interesting when considering that Persaud’s company, E-Networks, teamed up with Huawei of China to provide the WiMax network.
Huawei is the same company which Jagdeo’s government granted the US$35 million contract to build a wireless system to provide a range of so-called e-governance services. There was no formal announcement of the signing and neither were details of that project made available.
In fact, Jagdeo announced the Huawei contract at the launching of Persaud’s WiMax service.

Brian Yong

Jagdeo said that the system being built by the Chinese would hook up hospitals, police stations, military outposts and other facilities.
That brings the story back to Brian Yong, who said that his company would provide Guyanese Internet access for educational, commercial, and medical purposes – the same objectives of the government’s planned use of the US$35milion wireless cable system.
“This will allow us to move fully into E Government mode, hooking up our schools, our hospitals and everything else so that we can deploy  technology to the service of our people,” Jagdeo said at the launching of the E-Networks WiMax service.
The former President had said there will be enough bandwidth to deploy different kinds of wireless technologies.
Through the use of the WiMAX technology, Jagdeo was optimistic that Guyana’s level of competitiveness and efficiency in health, education, agriculture and manufacturing will improve significantly.
There were objections of ulterior motives on the part of the Jagdeo Government for spending money on a service which could be offered by the Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Company, which had launched a high-speed Internet service through a US$60 million fiber-optic cable network that runs from Suriname to Guyana.
It became clear that the cable was intended to meet the objectives of Jagdeo and the deals he was making with his friends.
The granting of cable licences allows the licencees to offer what in the United States and other countries call triple play—internet, television/radio and telephone services.

Vishok Persaud

Even without being coupled with cellular service, cable on the 2.5 GHz Band is a virtual monopoly in the telecommunication sector for whoever owns the licence. When a consumer accesses cable with the triple play, then regular landline services can become irrelevant.
The cable by itself monopolises the interactive flow of information and that is what Jagdeo has given to his two buddies.

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Originally Posted by Nehru:

And dem seh Jagdeo stupid.

we are all aware how much the economic rape of Guyana by the PPP gangsters fills you with pride

 

it is a common condition afflicting human invertebrates of poor intelligence and little achievement who migrate here from Guyana 

FM

Anyone who gets a contract from the govt is immediately labelled a "friend and family of the pPP". While political ties do indeed play a role, let us be cognizant that these contracts were up for competitive bids and the gentlemen mentioned above were the winners. You will note that no mention was made of the other bidders who "should have won" those contracts and were "robbed" of this right. 

FM
Originally Posted by BGurd_See:

Anyone who gets a contract from the govt is immediately labelled a "friend and family of the pPP". While political ties do indeed play a role, let us be cognizant that these contracts were up for competitive bids and the gentlemen mentioned above were the winners. You will note that no mention was made of the other bidders who "should have won" those contracts and were "robbed" of this right. 

What you talkin bout Willis? Get informed. There was no bidding process involved with this deal. This was a handout of the nation's resources by the chief oligarch in charge to his cronies. 

Mars
Last edited by Mars
Originally Posted by BGurd_See:

. . . let us be cognizant that these contracts were up for competitive bids and the gentlemen mentioned above were the winners . . .

ahmmm . . . actually, NO!

 

but then again, facts have never mattered to those who bray loudest in the donkey parade

FM
Originally Posted by redux:
Originally Posted by BGurd_See:

. . . let us be cognizant that these contracts were up for competitive bids and the gentlemen mentioned above were the winners . . .

ahmmm . . . actually, NO!

 

but then again, facts have never mattered to those who bray loudest in the donkey parade

Welcome back. Let your voice be heard.

Nehru
Originally Posted by Nehru:
Originally Posted by redux:
Originally Posted by BGurd_See:

. . . let us be cognizant that these contracts were up for competitive bids and the gentlemen mentioned above were the winners . . .

ahmmm . . . actually, NO!

 

but then again, facts have never mattered to those who bray loudest in the donkey parade

Welcome back. Let your voice be heard.

dude, I think you're short of friends

FM
Originally Posted by redux:
Originally Posted by Nehru:
Originally Posted by redux:
Originally Posted by BGurd_See:

. . . let us be cognizant that these contracts were up for competitive bids and the gentlemen mentioned above were the winners . . .

ahmmm . . . actually, NO!

 

but then again, facts have never mattered to those who bray loudest in the donkey parade

Welcome back. Let your voice be heard.

dude, I think you're short of friends

HEHEHE Really???? SHAMELESSNESS should be a CRIME. Good Afternoon Professor.

Nehru
Originally Posted by Nehru:
Originally Posted by redux:
Originally Posted by Nehru:
Originally Posted by redux:
Originally Posted by BGurd_See:

. . . let us be cognizant that these contracts were up for competitive bids and the gentlemen mentioned above were the winners . . .

ahmmm . . . actually, NO!

 

but then again, facts have never mattered to those who bray loudest in the donkey parade

Welcome back. Let your voice be heard.

dude, I think you're short of friends

HEHEHE Really???? . . .

yes, really

FM
Originally Posted by redux:
Originally Posted by Nehru:
Originally Posted by redux:
Originally Posted by Nehru:
Originally Posted by redux:
Originally Posted by BGurd_See:

. . . let us be cognizant that these contracts were up for competitive bids and the gentlemen mentioned above were the winners . . .

ahmmm . . . actually, NO!

 

but then again, facts have never mattered to those who bray loudest in the donkey parade

Welcome back. Let your voice be heard.

dude, I think you're short of friends

HEHEHE Really???? . . .

yes, really

HEHEHE Really???? SHAMELESSNESS should be a CRIME. Good Afternoon Professor.  Yuh keep forgetting things, you Senile man.

Nehru
Originally Posted by Billy Ram Balgobin:

Let the gov't give TK a contract and watch how Warrior gon cuss he down.

Maybe the PPP should do something like this to decimate the oppositon.  Just a thought!


If TK get a contract he will become "friends and family" of the PPP. haahhaahah

FM

Radio/Cable licences scandal…Barefaced theft of limited national resources

MARCH 20, 2013 | BY  | FILED UNDER NEWS 

 

- Opposition MPs

On September 27, 2011, former President Bharrat Jagdeo signed the Broadcasting Act 2011 into law paving the way for the Broadcasting Authority to start the process for the issuance of new television and radio licences.
However, days before he was set to step down in November, ending his constitutional term in office, he gave permission to several entities, including ruling party members and close friends, to start operating radio stations.
Last week, under pressure from the Opposition, the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), in shocking revelations, told the National Assembly that Jagdeo gave his best friend, Dr. Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop five radio channels; New Guyana Company Limited five and Telcor and Cultural Broadcasting Inc another five. 
Telcor’s contact person is Omkar Lochan, who happens to be the Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment…a ministry headed by Minister Robert Persaud.
New Guyana Company is the one that publishes the party’s newspaper, Mirror, and whose contact person is PPP’s Member of Parliament (MP), Dharamkumar Seeraj.
There have been widespread condemnations, of the allocations of the licences, by local media bodies… the Guyana Press Association (GPA) and the Guyana Media Proprietors Association (GMPA).
The issuance of two cable licences to two of Jagdeo’s closest friends, Vishok Persaud and Brian Yong, has emphasized the shocking extent of the control that was and still is being exercised over the national spectrum.
Now, there are numerous questions as to why Jagdeo did not wait on the authority to do its work. It would be one of the several criticisms facing the legacy of the former President who is under fire for a number of questionable multi-billion-dollar deals that he essentially tied Guyana to while in office.

BYPASSED SYSTEM
Yesterday, Alliance For Change Vice Chairman, Moses Nagamootoo, said that what is wrong in the entire process is the fact that Jagdeo bypassed the system that was established to grant licences.
Nagamootoo, a former Minister of Information under the PPP/C and long time journalist at the Mirror newspaper, pointed out that it was the agreement between political parties that no new licences would have been issued until a new Broadcasting Act was in effect and after an Authority was established.
Yet, weeks after assenting to the Act in 2011, Jagdeo took it upon himself to issue the licences.
“This is the issue that has made the allocations so very lawless. It is how he bypassed what had been agreed to.”
Nagamootoo is a founding member of the Association of Caribbean Media Workers and the first ever regional Vice Chairman of the International Association of Journalists.

BAREFACED THEFT
“This is a clear case of the barefaced theft of national resources, a resource that is limited. The early indications are that the aggrieved media houses and other affected persons and entities who have been ignored may now have recourse in the court,” Nagamootoo, now a practicing lawyer, asserted.
He opined that the latest disclosures may serve to “clip” the Executive’s powers to promote nepotism and challenged President Donald Ramotar to be more than just a “follower” of his predecessor (Jagdeo).
Nagamootoo said he was revolted by the fact that prominent media houses like Kaieteur News and Stabroek News, two independent newspapers, were not favoured in place of the Mirror newspaper which is headed by a “now defunct company” and an individual who does not even have a “passing acquaintance” to the media.
“I am also revolted by the fact that the Mirror complex in Ruimveldt has been hived off to a friend of Jagdeo, Ed Ahmad, and the contract for printing given to ‘Bobby’ Ramroop, a friend of Mr. Jagdeo.”
Nagamootoo served at the Mirror for over 25 years before parting company with the PPP/C in 2011 to join the AFC.
“Party paramountcy has been brought to live again.”

OBNOXIOUS
Meanwhile, A Partnership For National Unity (APNU), which has the largest bloc of seats for the opposition in the National Assembly, described Prime Minister Samuel Hinds’ recent disclosures as “obnoxious”, calling for the licences to be revoked.
“Jagdeo and his party should be ashamed. What message are we sending to the world by making such decisions? What makes it worse is that these licences were issued after Jagdeo would have assented to the Broadcast Act and done days before he left office,” said APNU MP, Joe Harmon.
The Parliamentarian pointed out that Jagdeo in essence bypassed the pre-qualification checks that would have been conducted by the Broadcast Authority. He urged for the licences to be recalled as a consequence.
The checks referred to by Harmon have to do with the fact that the Broadcast Authority has made it clear that it would not recognize any old applications that existed before the Act was signed in 2011. The body wants fresh applications…a move that is being resisted by media houses and others that already have applications on file with the National Frequency Monitoring Unit (NFMU), which handled applications before the Act came into being. Applicants have to show financial means and present a business plan.
Earlier this week, Tony Vieira, a long-time television station owner blasted the way the former president issued the licences.
“The entire process is illegal. Full stop. A Broadcast Act was signed. Therefore even if the Broadcast Authority was not established until last year, no licences should have been issued,” Vieira said.
Vieira was the owner of the VCT Channel 28 which he said he was forced to sell out after government pressured him, taking away some of his biggest clients.
Media owners who were ignored by the government are currently examining their options and have not ruled out heading to the courts.
There has been mounting evidence that the radio, television and cable licences were issued as part of a bigger plan by persons close to ruling party to take full control of the growing telecommunications sector.

Mars

Add Reply

×
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×