By: Arret Jatta
Despite the approval of a SupplementaryAppropriation Bill (SAB), GRTS has been unable to migrate from analog to digital, the chair of the Public Enterprise Committee (PEC) of the National Assembly said on Thursday.
However, the Director General of GRTS, AbdoulieSey, has reportedly informed PEC that the State broadcaster has plans to go digital in the future.
PEC Thursday submitted its 2023 report in which the GRTS director general was quoted as saying that the national broadcaster “is revamping all its studios and in the future, all equipment to be procured by the institution, will be digital”.
“GRTS has started working with the Ministry of Information in Senegal and a Belgian Company (Studio Tech) to fully digitalize it but this initiative is not forthcoming for now,” PEC chair Lamin J.Sanneh said yesterday.
Mr. Sanneh informed the House that this disclosure was made to them when the committee enquiredabout the status of the implementation of the GRTS’s migration from analog to digital which, he explained, has been part of the 2021 Supplementary Appropriation Bill (SAB) approved by Parliament as well as the 2020 Activity Report of GRTS.
PEC chair said GRTS’s DG had told them that the approval of these funds coincided with the 2021 general elections and that most of the funds were spent on this election’s activities which included four pickup vehicles, a mobile studio, digital cameras, and nine transmitters.
Legislator Sanneh further informed the National Assemblythat PEC was told that the transmitters are analog but convertible to digital, indicating that part of the Gambian population is still using analog, which warranted the purchase of that type of transmitter.
“DG further informed the committee that it is an international recommendation for TV stations to operate digitally. DG also said GRTS is working towards this, and it has established an institution called Digital Gambia Limited (DGL) to support this process,” he disclosed.
PEC meanwhile recommended that GRTS henceforthonly procure digital equipment to fast-track the digitalization process.
The committee also recommended that the Board and Management of GRTS come up with strategies and innovative business ideas to maintain theirrelevance and viability in the digital era.