It’s a tiny FM station serving the Haitian community in West Palm Beach. In fact, its signal is so small that there’s a wholly different LPFM serving Patois-speaking Haitians just to the south in Delray Beach, Fla.
Still, it must follow FCC rules, including allowing a badged FCC Enforcement Bureau in when making an unannounced visit. Only, that didn’t happen, and now the licensee could be fined for its refusal.
Even if one could call it a cultural difference, as such visits may not be commonplace in Haiti, that’s no excuse for what happened to agents of the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau who drove up from Miami on March 15 to inspect WDZP-LPFM 101.1 “Radio Mondiale.”
According to FCC rules, a station licensee must make it available for inspection by Commission representatives during regular business hours. Yet, even though the agents verbally stated they were there to conduct an inspection and displayed their badge and credentials to two different WDZP representatives, they denied the FCC agents access to the station.
Furthermore, the individual identified as the LPFM’s owner denied the Enforcement Bureau agents access to Radio Mondiale after he was reached by telephone during the agents’ visit.
The refusal came despite the Enforcement Bureau agents’ repeated reminders to the station owner of the requirement that FCC licensees must allow such inspection.
Now, Enforcement Bureau Region Two Regional Director Dedrick Roybiskie wants an explanation from WDZP Media Inc. The licensee must submit a written statement concerning this matter within 20 days of release of July 8, when a notice was dispatched to the licensee.
The response must fully explain each violation, including all relevant surrounding facts and circumstances; must contain a statement of the specific action(s) taken to correct each violation and preclude recurrence; and must include a time line for completion of any pending corrective action(s).
