Nagamootoo promises State media Boards will be free from “political hacks”

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo on Monday claimed that his Government would soon move to reconstitute State Boards across the country that were free from what he referred to as “political hacks”.

Nagamootoo made this comment although he has approved and supported the appointment of Alliance For Change (AFC) Executive Member and Public Relations Officer Beverley Alert as the Head of the Government Information Agency (GINA).

He has also appointed several other persons within the National Communications Network (NCN), Guyana Chronicle and GINA.

Prime Minister Nagamootoo, in an address to the National Assembly months ago, had announced plans to have new boards installed at these state entities. According to a GINA release, the Prime Minister on Monday revealed that the boards have not been appointed as yet. He, however, assured that the process was ongoing. He said the boards will comprise persons who are qualified and “who have roots in broadcasting, information, journalism and technical training”.

“I am not going to be a Minister responsible for information and who puts party hacks into these boards, to just draw stipends for not working, but to do party propaganda,” the Prime Minister said, adding that “those ghost writers and those ghost producers are things of the past”.

According to the Prime Minister, members of the Board of Directors for the state media entities will be professionals and they will bring to the fore, in Guyana, a new approach to information and communication. “It must be people driven, to do what it takes to serve the needs of the Guyanese people, and to serve social and development agendas, not a partisan political agenda,” he said.

The Prime Minister, in an earlier address to the National Assembly, had pledged the new Administration’s support for true press freedom. He had stated that while the new Administration will make no attempt to curb the constitutional right of freedom of any media, including that of the state, it would not turn a blind eye to irresponsible, partisan information that had characterised these media under the previous Administration

Nagamootoo, however, urged that information must be disseminated in a responsible manner that will “help, not destroy Guyana”. Moreover, the Prime Minister said that the ‘right of reply’ must be catered for, so persons who “come under assault and attack” would have the right to tell their side of the story.