Ursula Owusu-Ekuful – Communications minister
The Communications minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has stated that stations who have been fined for failing to renew their authorisation must pay up or shut down and think of other business ventures.
According to her, the 131 sanctioned stations have operated illegally for a long time and it is about time those stations are made to respect the laws under which they operate.
The tough talking politician added that stations who have had their licenses revoked must begin to explore other business opportunities because there is no way back for them.
“For those whose authorisation have been revoked, the door has been shut, I don’t think that there is any room for negotiation there. I would suggest that they close up shops and think of other ventures which will enable them to survive.”
The NCA last week sanctioned a total of 131 FM authorization holders found to have breached section 13 of the Electronic Communications act (2009), Act 775.
The move followed the completion of a nationwide FM Spectrum Audit conducted this year to determine compliance of Authorisation Holders with their Authorisation conditions and to determine which FM stations were in operations or otherwise.
The move by the NCA has been described as harsh by the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) while the minority in parliament say it may lead to over 5000 job losses.
But speaking on Morning Starr Wednesday, the Ablekuma West MP said workers who are likely to be affected by the move by the NCA must blame their owners. She says the blatant disregard of the law by those owners has finally caught up with them and must face the consequences.
“Why would you have been operating illegally for this while when you know you didn’t have the means to maintain that stations?…it is not by force, there are several ways of disseminating information without having a radio station in every corner.
“…Before you acquired that license to operate in that community you knew the conditions under which you would be operating, what made anyone think that they would be treated differently because of the part of the country that they came from,” Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful told host Francis Abban on Wednesday.
-Starrfmonline