Lynch put out

FORMER TOURISM MINISTER Noel Lynch was clean bowled by the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Tuesday night.Lynch was barred from entering a studio after being invited to be a guest on Best And Mason and in protest, well known cricket commentator Andrew Mason opted not to co-host the programme.Lynch, a former marketing manager at CBC, was escorted by a security guard from the broadcasting station’s studio.He was reportedly told that management had made a decision not to allow him on the programme.“It is sad where we are going. I am not here actively talking about politics, but about sports. We are talking about cricket development, which I think is a fundamental part of our cultural development and economic development,” Lynch told the DAILY NATION in CBC’s car park minutes after he was ejected around 8 p.m. Tuesday.But CBC, in a statement carried live on their television news and sports presentation last night, said Lynch had not been banned but there were certain procedures that had not been followed pertaining to guests on programmes at the Pine, St Michael station.Noting that Lynch was welcome to be on the programme next week, CBC called the incident “unfortunate”.The 90-minute programme continued on Tuesday night with only Carlisle Best, while Mason joined Lynch outside the CBC compound.“Mr Mason endured the dilemma of seeking to protect the show on behalf of CBC, while also protecting from severe embarrassment a guest that he had personally invited,” Mason’s attorney-at-law Ralph Thorne, QC, said in a statement on the matter. “Once Mr Mason was sure that Mr Best would host the show with the other invited guest, he then properly sought to assuage Mr Lynch’s distress.”Thorne added: “While the corporation has had its show protected, Mr Mason and Mr Lynch have been victims of the corporation’s breach of their constitutional right to freedom of expression and freedom of association. In a most arbitrary manner, the corporation has also trespassed on Mr Mason’s established contractual rights. I would hope that CBC moves speedily to remedy this most unhappy and unlawful situation.”Noting that he held no political office, Lynch said his prohibition from the programme sent the wrong message to Barbadians.“What I found to be more serious about the entire thing is that it reflects badly on the Government and the Acting Prime Minister, who has a responsibility for broadcasting.“It reflects badly on him [the Acting Prime Minister]. What type of conspiracy is this?” Lynch queried.The former Minister of Tourism said that as far back as 2007, while he was Minister of Tourism, he had appeared on the Best And Mason programme with current Minister of Social Care Chris Sinckler.“I was a minister and he [Sinckler] was an aspirant to political office,” Lynch said.