Tobago Chamber vex with Channel 4 black-out

TOBAGO RESIDENTS will receive from tomorrow, live coverage of all Carnival events on Channel 4, the NCC station (formerly TIC). NCC Chairman Kenny De Silva admitted that there were problems with the coverage in Tobago and “we are working on it.” He also assured that Tobagonians will be able to view the last five days of Carnival on NCC Channel 4. “By Friday, the whole of Tobago will receive transmission,” De Silva promised. The problems, he said, were caused by a faulty transmitter. “We have been able to source a new one, which is very limited in TT,” De Silva explained.

The Tobago Division of the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce yesterday, strongly condemned Government’s “arrangement” with the National Carnival Commission (NCC) regarding carnival broadcasts which, following the closure of  TTT, allowed the NCC to broadcast Carnival events on Channels 4 and 16. The condemnation of the arrangement came in light of the fact that Tobagonians have been left with blank television screens and short tempers since Channels 4 and 16, do not show in the Sister Isle.

The Tobago Chamber said that while remedial work was being done by the NCC to have coverage beamed to Tobago, some accommodation should be made with Tobago Channel Five to facilitate the coverage. “It is indeed unfortunate that here is another example of the total indifference by the authorities to the sister island of Tobago, fueling one more time the antipathy which exists in various quarters,” a release from the Tobago Chamber stated. The Tobago Chamber said it fully endorsed the position taken by its Trinidad counterpart as outlined in its (Trinidad Chamber) release on the subject of privatisation and NBN.

The Tobago Chamber stated that “this twin-island Republic is yet to be convinced that state-run enterprises, given the lack of dynamism/control, are able to operate on a profitable basis.” It agrees that the proposed new entity to replace NBN was a case of “throwing good money after bad,” and cited examples of Caroni, BWIA, and WASA. “On the issue of NBN itself, while the Tobago Division of the Chamber has no problem with its closure, this Division has a major issue on the arrangement given to the NCC to operate the station on Channels 4 and 16 without any regard for the people of Tobago,” the Chamber stressed.