Rodents Destroy Bayelsa Media Houses’ Equipment

Rodents and other reptiles are actively making use of the dusty cables and other transmitting equipment supplied to both Bayelsa State Glory Land Television and the State Radio House.

This is because the State Government has been unable to upset millions of naira owed  contractors that supplied the equipment.

Consequently, staff of the media houses, particularly the Glory Land Television and the Newspaper Corporation,Publishers of  The News Waves, are idling away in their different offices.

The Glory Land Television has been on test run for the past one year, while The News Waves” has also disappeared from the streets of Yenagoa.

Reacting to the sorry state of the State media outfits, the Bayelsa State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ decried the neglect and decay of government-owned media establishments in the state.

Chairman of the council, Mr. Tarinyo Akono, at an extra-ordinary state executive meeting in Yenagoa, noted that since its creation in 1996, Bayelsa State still appears to be crawling in all fronts, in terms of capacity building and infrastructure.

He described the situation as worrisome, expressing surprise that the state-owned television station, the Glory Land  TV, was yet to commence full broadcast despite the huge sum of money spent by government to set up the outfit.

Mr. Akono also noted with dismay the sorry state of the Bayelsa State Broadcasting Corporation, saying there was urgent need for the station to go digital.

According to him, while the NUJ was aware that government had procured and installed a new transmitter at the station, the said transmitter cannot be put into use because it is alleged that the contractor who supplied it has not been fully paid.

The chairman, therefore, called on the government to as a matter of priority pay up  what is owed the contractors of both the radio and the TV Stations to ensure the commencement of effective broadcast.

Stressing that the earlier government acts on this, the better for it, Mr. Akono disclosed that there are already indications that rodents have started destroying the state-of-the-art studio at the Glory Land TV and the digital transmitter in the Bayelsa State Broadcasting Corporation.

The chairman, who also described the non-functional state of the state owned Newspaper Corporation, as embarrassing, urged government to see it as a wake –up call, noting that  with little or nothing local tabloids are published on regular basis in the state”.