B.C.B. delivers last newscast

The Broadcasting Corporation of Belize, which is scheduled to cease all operations by month’s end, today ran its last newscast. The sixty-one year old government owned station, which for more than a half century was the only game in town, was less noted for the depth and quality of its news content, than for its indication of what the government of the day, colonial or otherwise, wanted its citizens to think. While that heavy official hand will not be missed, the rich history of gifted announcers, storytellers and educators will be long remembered by many. In an interim report issued yesterday by the committee in charge of B.C.B.’s transition it was revealed that the corporation’s books had not been audited since 1992 and that by the end of this month the B.C.B. will be laid to rest with roughly a half million dollars in debts and only fifty thousand in accounts receivable. This is despite an annual government subvention of around three hundred thousand dollars. In related news today’s issue of the Amandala announced that KREM Radio and FM 2000 have entered into preliminary talks on a possible merger or coordination of efforts. The move is in response to the perception that the demise of the B.C.B. will leave Love FM as the dominant force in Belizean radio broadcasting.