Citizens and stakeholders will soon get an opportunity to help decide the fate of state-owned media agencies — Caribbean New Media Group (CNMG) and Government Information Services Ltd (GISL).
Within the first week in November, government will be using all forms of media to gather opinions from the public for a four-day consultation.
Minister of Communications Maxie Cuffie revealed this yesterday during a tour of the GISL building on Lady Young Road, Morvant.
It was the first time Cuffie returned to the premises after resigning as chief executive officer in 2010. Since his appointment, Cuffie has repeated statements that the state should not be involved in media entities.
He also said government policy included steps to ensure there was no duplication of resources and work by the two companies.
Cuffie said he had not expected to ever return to the building, at least not in his previous capacity.
He said the consultation process needed to be complete, in order to inform a final plan for both CNMG and GISL so that changes could be implemented.
Saying duplication of work from both organisations resulted in wastage of government resources, Cuffie said this was something he intended to avoid.
Cuffie said he had a number of potential plans, including a model similar to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). He noted the concerns raised by employees at GISL and CNMG regarding job security.
“I assure you that the changes to be implemented is not an exercise geared toward taking away people’s jobs or cutting jobs,” Cuffie said.
Several people at both CNMG and GISL have been fired from their positions since the new government was established, including GISL CEO Tony Deyal and CNMG CEO Ken Ali.
Others have tendered their resignations, while the companies failed to renew contracts for employees, specifically those affiliated with the $50 million ICON project.
During the recent budget debate Cuffie said the former People’s Partnership government spent $90 million on state media in the last year.