Dear Editor,
The Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce notes yet another article in the Stabroek Business of September 2, 2022 purporting to speak on behalf of agro-processors. This latest article makes the wholly untrue and inaccurate assertion that there has been no response to what has been termed a “formal inquiry [sic] as to whether Government of Guyana might be disposed to contributing to defraying costs associated with local agro-processors and craftsmen and women’s participation” in the Florida International Trade and Cultural Expo and Conference. The facts are as follows:
1. On August 9, one Mr. Wesley Kirton, communicating from a Gmail address, sent an email to Minister Walrond’s official address. In the email, Mr. Kirton enquired “whether there is any assistance the Government of Guyana could provide some of the small entrepreneurs who wish to participate in this event.” This is the only correspondence that the Ministry and the Minister have received on the matter.
2. Minister Walrond instructed Mr. John Edghill, Director of Business and Entrepreneur Development, to reach out to Mr. Kirton.
3. Mr. Edghill duly wrote to Mr. Kirton on August 26 indicating that the Ministry could not sponsor the event [for the agro-processors] and offered to meet with Mr. Kirton at a mutually convenient time to explore options for support in the future. To date Mr. Kirton has not responded to Mr. Edghill.
From the above sequence of events, it cannot be said that there was no response to Mr. Kirton. It is well known that a fundamental principle of integrity in journalism, requires balance which is usually reflected in making genuine efforts to contact any person for their side of a matter, prior to publishing adverse comments. Had Stabroek News followed this basic principle and practice, the unfortunate misrepresentations in the above article might have been avoided.
On a final note, Minister Walrond and Minister Mustapha accompanied Vice President Jagdeo to a meeting with more than one hundred agro-processors on August 30, 2022 at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre. It is instructive that at that encounter which lasted for more than four hours, not a single one of those processors raised the issue of support for attendance at FITCE. Therefore, as well meaning as Mr. Kirton’s initiative appears to be, the reality may very well be that the priorities are different for the agro-processors.
Sincerely,
Cordell McClure
Communication Officer
Ministry of Tourism, Industry and
Commerce