Dear Editor

The Guyana Press Association (GPA) seeks to set the record straight about the issuance of media passes. The GPA met with Director of the Department of Public Information, Imran Khan, on January 30th, 2018, when among other issues the two groups discussed the issuance of media passes.

Then, the GPA raised its concerns about the misuse of media passes over the years by the politically headed organisation and Mr Khan pointed out that the DPI was not ìcomfortableî with the issuance of media passes. To this end, the GPA said that it has always believed that the body should issue media passes to bona fide members of the media and submitted a legal agreement for the ìAccreditation of media Workersî on February 11th, 2018, to guide the process.

Since there was no formal acknowledgement or response to our submission, several GPA executives sought to verbally ascertain the status of the agreement. We were told that the agreement was with then Acting Prime Minister, Vice-President Carl Greenidge and then at one time the agreement is with Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo.

Another written inquiry sent on April 16th, 2018 about the status of this agreement has gone unanswered. It is now May, 2018 and our members and colleagues are without legitimate media passes for the year. The GPA stands ready to discuss accreditation in the new year with clear commitments to respecting time and this profession.

Regards
Nazima Raghubir
President, Guyana Press Association