The Broadcasting Commission yesterday said it was deeply concerned by a statement issued earlier this week by the Media Association of Jamaica (MAJ) which, it believes, has created a controversy out of "a matter involving a genuine effort to respond to a crisis relating to our nation's children".

Cordell Green, executive director of the commission, said yesterday that, when the commission released a public statement on November 6, referring to securing an agreement with broadcast and cable operator licensees for the implementation of a missing-child alert system, it made no reference to the MAJ.

Denied claim

In a statement Tuesday, the MAJ stressed that it had come to no such agreement with the commission.

The media association, however, pointed out that its members remained committed to continuing their financial and technical support to various initiatives to prevent violence against children.

"The president of the MAJ, along with the individual licensees, was invited to a consultation series where the matter of the establishment of a missing-child alert system was raised," Green said in a letter to The Gleaner yesterday. "In response, there were unequivocal expressions of endorsement for the implementation of such a system."

Not party or endorser

He argued that the MAJ did not represent the majority of broadcasters, nor represent cable subscriber television operators.

"It must be reiterated that under no circumstance did the com-mission refer to the MAJ as a party to or endorser of the agreement," Green added.

"The Broadcasting Commission was responding to a matter of pressing public importance and it is unfortunate that the MAJ responded in this manner."