PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT) has warned media houses here that they risk breaching the conditions of their licence if they play a song by a local Chutney artiste aimed at the late mother of Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley.
In a two-page letter to the President of the Trinidad and Tobago Publishers and Broadcasters Association (TTPBA), Daren Lee Sing, the TATT said the tune by Nermal Gosein contained lyrics which may prove denigrating to women.
TATT chairman, Dr. John Prince in his December 29 letter said that his organisation is of the view the statements in the song, “can prove to be inappropriate and derogatory to mother figures who place an important role in the enrichment and development of society.
“We are therefore urging you in the interest of ethical and moral standards, that you pay due regard to the obligations of your concession and the conditions within the Draft Broadcasting Code and take the appropriate action.
“We are, therefore, asking that you co-operate with us and hope that you will treat this matter with the due care and attention that is required in the circumstances,” Prince wrote.
The song titled “Rowlee Mudda Count” has divided the population mainly along racial and political lines in this oil-rich twin island Republic where the majority of the population are people of Indian or African descent.
Former health minister Dr. Fuad Khan in a message posted on social media, said while he does not support the tune released by “Massive” Gosein for the 2018 Carnival season, singers, particularly those of African origin, had released songs degrading of members of the Indian community.
“Massive Gosein song has exposed the under belly of racism in calypso in this country. Racism to the extent that it is okay for a black man like Chalkdust (Dr. Hollis Liverpool) to sing about a whole race of Indian people…
“Massive Gosein is an Indian man singing a calypso about a black man…about his mother so and so…and the whole country say Chalkdust was art form. So why isn’t Massive Gosein art form too,” he asked, saying it is time the population “condemn that type of rubbish from both sides”.
In its letter to the TTTPBA, the TATT reminded of Clause D9 of the concession granted to broadcasters which states, in part, that the concessionaire “shall not transmit any programme, information or other material which degrades or portrays in a negative manner or discriminates against or encourages discrimination against any person or group by reason of race, origin, class, religion or sex.”
Gosine has since registered to compete in the Chutney Soca Monarch (CSM) competition and said he intends to sing the controversial song amid a threat from the National Chutney Foundation that it would not allow the song to be performed.
