Rockcliff Christie

Rockcliff Syomen Christie (8 April 1931 – 18 November 2020), also spelled Rockcliffe Christie, was a Guyanese civil engineer, businessman and broadcaster. A former District Engineer of Guyana's Ministry of Works and Hydraulics whose projects included the Independence Arch in Georgetown and the Canje River Bridge, he founded the Little Rock group of businesses in New Amsterdam, Berbice — including the Little Rock Hotel, the Little Rock Television Station (LRTVS, Channel 10), which he established in 1989, and 88.5 Rock FM, launched in 2014 as the first radio station in Berbice. Stabroek News listed him among the notable Guyanese who died in 2020.

Early life Christie was born on 8 April 1931 at Vergenoegen, a village on the Essequibo coast of what was then British Guiana, the second of eleven children of cattle farmer Joseph Christie. In 1989 he founded the Little Rock Television Station (LRTVS), broadcasting on Channel 10 from the same premises; the station's transmitter grew from 15 to 1,000 watts, and his Stabroek News obituary described it as Berbice's first television station.

Christie applied for a radio licence in the early 1990s and again in 1997; a licence was granted in 2011. On 29 March 2014, he and his wife Pearl launched 88.5 Rock FM, the first radio station in Berbice, at a ceremony attended by President Donald Ramotar, who praised the couple's "pioneering role" in broadcasting; the president of the Berbice Chamber of Commerce described the Christies as "a transformational force" in the community.

In November 2014 Christie received the Heritage Business Award at Guyana's inaugural African Business Awards.

Death Christie died at his home at 67 Vryman's Erven, New Amsterdam, on 18 November 2020, aged 89. Both broadcast licences remained current with the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority as of 2024, held by Little Rock Television Station Inc. and Little Rock Radio Station Inc.