Arti Cameron’s team this evening issued a statement explaining various issues leading up to her being unable to participate in the Miss World 2011 contest.
The statement follows:
“We wish to refer to a Press Release issued by the Miss Guyana World Organisation dated October 22, 2011, in which the organisation stated that due to the lateness in Arti Camron’s visa application, she would be representing Guyana at Miss World 2012 instead of this year.
“1. We welcomed this statement since the required Letter of Support from Miss World Limited was late in reaching Miss Cameron. This letter came via the Miss Guyana World Organization, located in Georgetown, Guyana, because Miss Cameron has no direct contact with Miss World Limited, headquartered in the London, England. Since August 2011, we have been making repeated requests to the organisers in Guyana to secure the Letter of Support from Miss World. Even at that early stage, we were aware of the guideline from the UK Consulate that a period of about six weeks should be set aside for the application of a British visa.
“2. In a telephone conversation with us on October 12, 2011, an official from the Miss Guyana World Organisation told us that Miss World had advised the required Letter of Support was sent “months ago”. The official said he could not find the letter in his email inbox, and, therefore, requested that this letter be resent. We only received this “resent” letter on October 12, 2011, even though it was dated as many as 12 days earlier, September 29, 2011. It is important to note that this letter was sent via email. In fact, Miss Cameron had preemptively made an appointment with the British Embassy one day before actually receiving the Letter of Support sent to her via the organisers. At no time did she delay or withhold documents from the British Embassy. It was the organisers’ tardiness in securing the Letter of Support that led to Ms. Cameron’s lateness in making the application to the British Embassy. As a result, she only received her visa on October 26, 2011, some eight days (and counting) after the Miss World 2011 international competition was started. A difficulty relating to the selection of an appropriate category (Work/Visit/Other) on the application was resolved on the phone within less than two hours between Miss Cameron and the British Embassy and did not constitute any significant delay.
“3. At the time of Miss Cameron’s receipt of her UK visa, Miss World was already at full throttle for over a week (eight days) and a number of qualifying events were already missed, including the Talent Segment and a range of Fast Track events. The reigning queen intended to compete in all of these events which provided cumulative points to the contestants. It is significant to note that these points went towards the overall, final scores. At this time, Guyana was already at a colossal disadvantage from which it could not possibly recover at this late stage. Any claim by the organisers in Guyana that Miss World would be “lenient” has never been explained. And therefore, we consider it highly improbable and impractical that Guyana would have been able to make up the required scores for the many events missed. Even though she was deeply disappointed that she would not be at Miss World 2011, Miss Cameron was willing to consider the fact that she and her country would not have any chance at doing well this year.
Instead of merely opting for a trip to London and selfishly enjoying personal exposure on the international stage, Miss Cameron made the patriotic decision not to embarrass her country by an excessively late arrival or cause Guyana to be at an irrecoverable position at the pageant. Since it was recognised that Miss Cameron’s lateness was not her fault, the Press Release issued by the Miss Guyana World Organisation was correct in anticipating and confirming that Miss Cameron would be Guyana’s representative to Miss World in 2012.
“4. The lateness of the Letter of Support was symptomatic of the chronic tardiness of the organisers, and they have demonstrated a distressing lack of project management skills during the entire period leading up to Miss World 2011. Operating on a last-minute basis was a major characteristic of their modus operandi. As a result, Miss Cameron was always made to face the brunt of their lateness by having to complete a range of required documentation on time even though documents are typically sent to her extremely late. Her appeals to the organisers to show greater organizational skills in this regard always went in vain. Against this backdrop, Miss Cameron had done her utmost to fill out and return all forms to Miss World Limited. The information on her blood type was delayed because her doctor had advised that this data is not routinely kept in a patient’s file in New York, and the doctor had advised that she would only order this test as part of a complete physical which Miss Cameron immediately agreed to. Next, regarding the physical measurements of the reigning queen, designer Michelle Cole has advised that these were sent by her to the organisers on two occasions. That this was an issue was a surprise to her. Finally, Ms. Cameron is not likely to delay the submission of photographs to Miss World as she enjoys the free services of a professional photographer here in New York City in the person of a member of team Arti Cameron. The apparent delay was caused by the initial, overall lateness of the organisers in beginning this process. These rushed situations could have been avoided if the organisers had demonstrated an acceptable level of competence in managing this project of national significance.
“5. At the time she received her UK visa, Miss Cameorn’s competition Evening Gown for the Miss World 2011 pageant was not provided. And to date, it is still not in existence. Also, the plane ticket to London has never been on the horizon even though the reigning queen was crowned way back on July 31, 2011. In addition, the other aspects of Miss Cameron’s wardrobe were not in place except for one or two pieces of designer clothing that have been acquired very recently. Next, the donation of clothing made by a certain boutique in Georgetown was deemed unsuitable to be classified as competitive wardrobe for an international pageant of renown such as Miss World. This was the prevailing view of designers who possess a wide range of experience in the international pageant industry. At this time, Miss Cameron does not wish to comment on the value of the clothing she actually received from this boutique, but she is aware that an official of the Miss Guyana World Organization was also a beneficiary of this donation. Most of the clothing was left in Guyana at the instruction of the organisers as they intended to post the clothing directly from Guyana to London, along with the National Costume.
“6. The organisers of Miss Guyana World have been in receipt of funds donated or raised jointly with Miss Cameron, or in her name, or on her behalf. These funds are assumed to be properly set aside for appropriate and careful use. Any reimbursements requested by Miss Cameron was expected to be sourced from these funds which are set aside for taking care of certain expenses directly related to the preparation of the reigning queen for the Miss World pageant. The Miss Guyana World organisers have clear and specific responsibilities and obligations to the reigning queen in this regard as spelled out in the contract which the queen has signed. The organisers had demonstrated a marked reluctance to sign the contract which provided for monthly financial reports to Ms. Cameron and financial audits in December 2011 and May, 2012. So far, Ms. Cameron has not received any financial report from the organisers, and they have never signed and returned a copy of the contract to her even after several promises were repeatedly made to do so.
“7. In addition, the current organisers have a range of responsibilities to Miss Cameron to promote her as a beauty queen. It would be profoundly unethical if these same organisers are found to be the “source” or “officials” referenced in unfavourable and inaccurate news reports about the reigning queen. If this is the case, we would view such a development with great seriousness as this would be a serious breach of confidence by the organisers. We have since called on the organisers via email to make a public statement that they were not the said “source” or “officials” referenced in two specific media reports. And we have urged them to condemn the inaccuracies and negativity by which the reigning queen has been severely distressed and is seeking relief from–if indeed the organisers are not the “source” or “officials”. Their non-response or refusal to do so to date has led to the issuing of this media statement and the consideration of serious action within the confines of the laws of Guyana. Towards this end, a member of Team Arti Cameron is expected in Guyana within the next week.”
