By Sue-Ann Wayow
THE Parliament Channel celebrates its 15th anniversary being the only Parliament channel in the Caribbean to broadcast parliamentary content 24/7.
In a press release on Tuesday, the Parliament Channel stated, “We thank the public, our stakeholders and service providers for partnering with us over the last 15 years in our role of redefining democracy at the Parliament Channel.”
The Parliament also gave a historical background and reminded citizens of its accomplishments.
A historical recent one was in January 2020 when it returned to its traditional home in the heart of Port-of-Spain with the move from Tower D at the International Waterfront Centre back to the newly refurbished Red House.
And on June 30, the proceedings of the House of Representatives were shown on the Parliament’s television channel however viewers were able to see both sittings of the House simultaneously live via the Parliament’s YouTube Channel Parlview.
The Parliament stated, “The establishment of the Parliament Channel has given more transparency to the proceedings and work of our Parliament, and the persons entrusted with our democracy. We’ve broadcast about Parliaments across the region and the world, as well as all aspects of democracy and the work of the Parliament in general. The Parliament Channel is supported by its social media presence which has flourished over the years and provides citizens with round the clock access to content across various platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.”
The award-winning Channel also has two Youtube channels, Parlview and the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago.
The history of the Parliament Channel began in 1989, when a Joint Select Committee (JSC) of Parliament was appointed to consider and report on all aspects relating to the broadcasting and televising of the proceedings of Parliament.
This Committee was established by separate motions passed on April 28, 1989 in the House of Representatives and in the Senate on May 2, 1989. The first meeting of this committee was held three weeks later when then House Speaker, Nizam Mohammed was unanimously elected as chairman.
During that time, special arrangements were made occasionally for the live coverage of specific parliamentary events by then Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT) but not without challenges. The major one being that the logistics and programming of TTT did not allow for real time and full coverage. Ten years later on November 4, 2003, then independent senator Professor Ramesh Deosaran moved a motion in the Senate calling on the “Government to arrange, with appropriate permission, for full debates and the business of both Houses to be transmitted to the public through the electronic media.”
Amendments were made and at a subsequent sitting of the Senate in February 2004, the motion that was approved included the appointment of a JSC to report on this matter. Senator Joan Yuille-Williams moved a motion to appoint six senate members to serve on the committee: Danny Montano, Christine Kangaloo, Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, Robin Montano, Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan and Mary King. The House of Representatives agreed to the same resolution a month later and appointed Dr Keith Rowley (Chairman), Camille Robinson-Regis, Eudine Job-Davis, Edward Hart, Ganga Singh and Dr Roodal Moonilal. After five meetings, the committee put forward six main recommendations with several guidelines.
And on August 18, 2006 the Parliament televised its first live feed of a sitting of the House via its own television channel available to cable subscribers in Trinidad. Soon afterwards the television channel was added to the cable lineup in Tobago and in November 2007, the Parliament began broadcasting its proceedings via radio on the frequency 105.5 FM.
