adminBongani Ndlovu Chronicle Correspondent
RADIO stations which were licensed last year but are yet to go on air have less than four months to start operating or risk losing their licences, the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) warned yesterday. BAZ, in March last year, licensed eight radio stations to broadcast within a 40km radius of their locality. Out of the eight, only Ya FM (Zvishavane) and Diamond FM (Mutare) have gone live with Skyz Metro FM (Bulawayo), Breeze FM (Victoria Falls) Hevoi FM (Masvingo), Faya FM (Gweru), KE100.4FM (Harare) and Nyaminyami FM (Kariba) yet to start broadcasting.
BAZ chief executive officer Obert Muganyura said the radio stations have an obligation to launch within the statutory timeframe, which is currently 18 months of being granted a licence.
“The radio stations have to launch within four months or statutorily they’ll lose their licences. We’ve engaged some of them and the information that we’re getting is that Hevoi and Faya FM say their equipment will be in the country soon and once it has arrived they’ll install and launch,” he said.
“The others haven’t yet clearly communicated exactly when they’ll be in a clear position to launch. We shall push them to launch those stations because there’s that expectation from the public in those localities.”
He said when the 18 months elapses, they would advertise for new bidders to apply for a radio licence.
“If a licence is cancelled, this means it’s available to other players. Due process has to be followed in terms like we’ve to invite new applications,” he explained. “After that, public inquiries will be done.”
He said some have decried the harsh economic environment that was making it hard for them to launch the radio stations.
“The other aspect is economic hardships. Some of them have cited this. Unfortunately, the law is still the law and after 18 months they’ll lose their licences if they fail to launch,” said Muganyura.
Online Reporter