Restoration of deteriorating communication infrastructures vital

The National National

REFURBISHMENT and restoration of deteriorating communication infrastructures in the country is one way of addressing misinformation on global and domestic issues among people, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Minister Timothy Masiu says.
Masiu, who is South Bougainville MP, emphasised this through a ministerial statement he presented in Parliament yesterday.
The statement provided in-depth report on the current challenges facing three agencies under his ministry:

  • THE Department of Information and Communications Technology as the policy and programme and coordination body;
  • THE National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) as the Government information dissemination body; and,
  • THE National Information and Communication Technology Authority (Nicta) as the broadcasting, radio and telecommunications regulatory body.

As presented by Masiu, there is an urgent need to restore and upgrade provincial radio stations nationwide belonging to NBC.
The statement also highlighted that the current working environment of NBC radio stations are unfit for human habitation.
While Prime Minister James Marape was commended by the ministry for the initiative to have in place a Government talkback where he addresses the nation every Monday concerning matters of national interest, he and the Government have been urged to look into reviving provincial stations.
The emphasis by the ministry is for the Government to support the efforts and policies by the ministry to ensure that the radio stations are up and running as radio is the only medium accessible by many, including the rural population.