A programme advertisement leading up to 9a.m., Sunday March 6, 2022, said ‘former Chairman of the NTRC Chairman, Lionel Ellis, breaks his silence’ on Sky FM.
The billing gave the ordinary listener the expectation that Mr. Ellis would explain why Sky FM has been broadcasting but not recognised by the appropriate authority, the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL). Hours into the progamme, however, Mr. Ellis had not been able to provide any clarity on whether Sky FM was in fact operating illegally.
He instead spent much time throwing partisan political punches at ECTEL, dismissing its CEO as the “Dominican CEO of ECTEL”, and the owner of Kairi FM (also a native of Dominica) as having ties to the Saint Lucia Labour Party, which is “related” to the Dominica Labour Party. And then he declared, without any evidence, that “ECTEL shouldn’t be getting involved in local politics.”
ECTEL was established on 4 May, 2000, by a Treaty signed in St. George’s, Grenada, by the Governments of five Eastern Caribbean States – Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Once the UWP and their supporters have been exposed on a particular matter, the tendency is to use political victimization as a motive for challenging them to be accountable. They even threaten to use their supporters as a shield to push-back and discourage investigation and action.
This is the public notice by the Minister Responsible for Electronic Communications, Senior Minister Hon. Stephenson King, which gave rise to the public controversy over the legality of Sky FM:
“The Minister, taking into consideration the written recommendation of the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL), dated the 15th September, 2021, informs that the use of radio frequencies 107.9MHz, 93.1MHz and 369.0MHz granted to Nature Island Corp Ltd (Kairi FM Saint Lucia) is hereby terminated with immediate effect.
Please be advised that any attempt by Kairi FM St Lucia to either operate or provide telecommunications services covered by all or any of the licenses or utilize the above stated radio frequency spectrum after the date of this notice will infringe Section 28 (4) of the Telecommunications Act Cap 8.11 (as amended) of the Revised Laws of Saint Lucia. Such infringement will be upon conviction, attract a fine not exceeding one million Eastern Caribbean Dollars or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding ten (10) years.”
Note that the notice from the Minister made mention of Kairi FM, and not Sky FM. Therefore, Kairi FM is the one being held accountable for the frequencies in question, not Sky FM. That’s because at some time or the other, Kairi FM passed to Sky FM without the blessings of ECTEL.
On his programme on Sky FM March 6, 2022, Mr Lionel Ellis attempted to trace a series of transactions in which the frequencies in question passed from one company or group or person to the other. He admitted one time that “we had previously transferred from LA Broadcasting to Kairi FM” and that when he (Ellis), through LA Broadcasting, transferred ownership to Kairi FM there was a clause in the agreement to give LA Broadcasting first buyback option of the station and the property accommodating it.
After the Kairi FM owner fell sick he decided to offer Ellis first option, but Ellis said he was “broke” and could not exercise the buyback option. Still, he decided to help him (Kairi FM owner) get a buyer “out of sympathy and friendship”.
So Ellis started asking around, because according to him, he had friends who he figured had enough money to buy the property.
“I won’t call their names,” Ellis added. “I spoke to my political friends, party friends…I spoke to everybody to see if I can get a sale for the man (the Kairi FM owner). So I got some support from supporters of the Party (his party, the UWP) to buy the property…but he (the Kairi FM owner) later settled on a price for the radio equipment, not the building.”
The money from the sale to party supporters went straight from the supporters to the Kairi FM owner. “All I did was facilitate a transfer of the equipment. When that was done that was the end of my story,”
Ellis recalled. However, LA Broadcasting (Ellis’ old company) had to be reinstated because, according to him, there was no company set up to receive the transaction between Kairi FM and the UWP supporters, since LA Broadcasting was already closed. So he asked the lawyer to re-register LA Broadcasting for the transfer of the equipment to accommodate the sale.
It took Lionel Ellis considerable talk time to come to the crux of the matter: that is, how would the frequencies be resolved? According to him, Sky FM couldn’t get the frequency from Kairi until Kairi settled outstanding fees with ECTEL and the NTRC. And ECTEL couldn’t withdraw the frequency from Kairi before Kairi settled with them.
According to him, ECTEL first proposed that Sky FM pay spectrum. Then ECTEL later withdrew the proposal because it would set a bad precedent, so the suggestion was to “just move Sky frequencies to other frequencies.” However, his NTRC board disagreed because it would cause difficulties in customers finding the frequencies. The matter remains unresolved.
Listeners to the progamme who have been following Mr. Ellis’ professional and political involvement in Saint Lucia will not only disagree, but will also maintain that he has been given ample opportunity by governments of both the main political parties to serve his country in various telecommunications and media endeavours, and appointments.
Is Mr. Ellis faulting the people who have had reason to question his performance in the various business ventures he has undertaken, and the public responsibilities to which he has been assigned over the years?
When his pursuits run aground he blames it all on the use of partisan politics as a weapon against him.
And that’s what he was doing on his lengthy “break the silence” programme on Sky FM on Sunday March 6, 2022.
Mr. Ellis was/is a key operative of the UWP and there is nothing he can do or say that would convince inquiring minds that the current use of the radio frequencies over which Sky FM broadcasts as a UWP echo chamber is strictly coincidental.