If all of Kairi FM’s three local broadcast licenses have been formally terminated, how is it that SKYFM is still on the air?
The National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NRTC), which advises OECS governments on telecommunications policies, recommended termination of the licenses granted to Dominica-based Nature Island Communications Corp ( known as Kairi FM), for operation of frequencies on 107.9, 93.1, and 369.0 in Saint Lucia.
The Saint Lucia government, through Minister for Infrastructure, Ports, Transport, Physical Development and Urban Renewal Stephenson King, adopted the ECTEL recommendation and terminated Kairi FM’s three frequencies here, with immediate effect.
The NTRC’s recommendation, guided by the Saint Lucia’s Telecommunications Act, means that any infringement may result in those responsible paying up to one million EC dollars in fines, or facing up to ten years in jail.
Kairi FM is not publicly known to have responded officially to the NTRC’s September 16 ruling and its immediate implementation by the Saint Lucia Government.
However, Sky FM, regarded widely as the virtual mouthpiece of Saint Lucia’s opposition United Workers Party (UWP), continues to broadcast night and day from its studio at Colony House on the John Compton Highway, on 93.1FM, originally assigned to Kairi FM.
NTRC members are tight-lipped on the matter, with one member telling a local newspaper, in confidence, that the station “might” have had conditional approval on “certain” unidentified grounds, but stopping short of offering clear answers as to why Sky FM continues to broadcast on a banned frequency.
Meanwhile, speculation continues to mount sky-high —here and in Dominica —-over whether Sky FM, like its parent company Kairi FM, will be grounded.
Curious minds are staying tuned.
