Dear Editor,
I have read the two articles published on November 20 and 21 in your publication about the Guyana Expo in Florida and must register my disappointment, especially with the second article in which I am quoted. As a journalist myself I maintain that reporters should be free to write what they wish and not be influenced by the sources of the information on which their articles are based. Equally however I believe that reporters should be honest, fair and accurate in their reporting.
Your first article quoted “the participants” as giving the impression that the expo was a massive failure when in fact it was a small group of the more than 50 participants who shared that view in addition to providing a number of half truths and untruths. I spoke with you and subsequently a reporter on your staff in addition to providing a copy of a press release on the outcome of the expo which was disseminated on Saturday, November 8, which unfortunately it would seem was not received by your publication and others in Guyana as well as an e-mail on Thursday pointing out the inaccuracies reported in the article in Thursday’s edition. Following is an extract from the e-mail I sent:
“As a follow up to our telephone conversation I would like to point out some inaccuracies in the article about the Florida Guyana Expo, for which I headed the planning committee at the US end. I cannot speak to anything at the Guyana end, including the cost of booths and what they were told prior to travelling to the US.
“First of all this was an expo and not a marketplace. Under US law specific types of visas and special licences have to be obtained in order to enter into retail sales. We organized an expo. Under the expo arrangement, exhibitors can enter into agreements with local (US) companies for long term arrangements and their exhibits could form part of an initial order for which specific regulatory documentation would need to be completed. This was explained to the participants by the US Customs representative during a workshop on the first morning of the Expo.
“Yes there was not the level of public traffic that the exhibitors expected but there were more than 200 people at the opening ceremony which was held on Thursday, October 30. Further, the people who we needed there – distributors, retail outlet owners (business people were there).
Agreements were entered into by several companies big and small. I encourage your publication to speak to the two handicraft producers from St Cuthbert’s Mission, among several others.
On the issue of hotel cost, the hotel was $120 per night for a suite which accommodated four persons at $30 each.
Transportation between the hotel and expo site was free. We had a bus at the disposal of participants.
We arranged through sponsorship of Barama and Durable Woods and the organizers of Jamaica Jerk Fest for a Guyana tent at the Jerk Fest which attracted over 15,000 people. Several of the exhibitors participated and most did some brisk business. I am informed that Go-Invest picked up the cost of their hotel for the extra week. Caribbean Airlines and Suriname Airways waived the change fees for return flights as a result of the intervention of the Guyana Consulate while Laparkan stored the exhibits, delivered these to the Jerk Fest and picked up what was left over. Laparkan has offered to ship the remaining exhibits back to Guyana free of cost.
I have forwarded to you a press release issued on November 8. I met with the exhibitors at the hotel on Saturday, November 8 and addressed all their concerns.”
The second article published on Friday quotes me as saying that there were four people to a room. My e-mail and subsequent conversation indicated quite clearly that the $120 was for a suite which is designed to accommodate four people. There is a difference between a suite and a room and given the fact that inaccuracies were being cleared up I think your reporter had an obligation to get the facts right. Further, it is most unfortunate that your publication decided against publishing anything about the exhibitors’ participation in the Jamaican Jerk Fest which was a decision taken, following the receipt of the necessary permission, for them in be able to engage in retail sales.
Further still Editor, the press release which I shared addressed some of the specific requests and business arrangements resulting from the expo, even naming some of the companies involved and yet not a line about those successes. Unfortunate, but I respect your right to determine what to publish and what not to publish.
Yours faithfully,
Wesley Kirton
Editor’s note
Stabroek News was told that the ‘suite’ referred to by Mr Kirton consisted of two double beds in one room which accommodated four persons.
