Queen’s Counsel Wayne Munroe yesterday accused the Utilities regulation and Completion Authority (URCA) of not doing its job.
This sentiment came after URCA said it found reason to investigate whether ZSR 103.5 fm host of talk show ‘Freedom March’ RodneyMoncur has contravened any of the provisions of the code of practice for content regulation issued by URCA.
It has been suggested that Mr. Moncur has been offensive during his broadcasts.
In light of this, URCA has requested the broadcast station to provide it with recordings of shows aired between September 5th to 9th.
According to Mr. Munroe, the recordings have been submitted; but he said the whole issue is very disturbing.
“This is very disturbing because we do not know who these folks are who are going to judge what is prevalent and acceptable in The Bahamas. It must be a wrong statement of the principal, because a lot of very bad things are acceptable and prevalent in The Bahamas and that is a problem. So to be clear, ZSR 103.5 has provided the tapes. We invite the folks in URCA to tune in. You can listen to Mr. Moncur on ZSR 103.5 or live stream to his face book page,” said mr. Munroe.
He reiterated the fact that URCA is not fulfilling its responsibilities.
“If URCA is doing its job, I do not understand why they are not capturing themselves all broadcasting. They seem to be telling us they don’t have a clue what they’re supposed to be doing; because if they’re asking the radio station for the content, then you can edit whatever you like. That seems to suggest that they might be kind of clueless, and do not realise that they should be recording for themselves and storing for a designated period all programming that they are responsible for regulating,” he added.
Meantime Mr. Moncur said despite what URCA is trying to imply, he has always been a responsible individual.
“If I quote something from the Commission of Inquiry, that is protected by law. If I quote a transcript for the courts, that is covered by privilege. So essentially, I have been very responsible on my show. I’ve been bold enough to attack those who I thought ought to be attacked. That’s basically what it is,” he said.
“I hate to say it, but another reason is, I know they hate it that I beat them in the referendum. I beat them. All the women followed me,” he added.