Dear Editor,

ANY good, decent, and respectable journalists would investigate, research and contact persons before writing erroneously about them. Journalists should be honest and accurate on facts and their information should be factual and not conjure up things in their heads/minds and write disparagingly about people with the belief that they are correct. Reckless, false/fabricated, and mediocre journalism has no place in today’s modern society to say the least. So let me rebutt the claim Freddie Kissoon wrote about me in Kaieteur News on August 5. He said “Mr. Nohar’s project has four interviewers – Mr. Charles Sugrim, Paul Tennassee, Dr. Asquith Rose, and Mr. Vishnu Bisram, all of whom do not live in Guyana and haven’t been in Guyana in recent years.” I do not know about the travelling schedule of the other names he mentioned, but for Mr. Kissoon to say that I have not been in Guyana in recent years is not only ridiculous and silly, and it shows clearly that he is presumptuous, snobbish, and snooty. Mr. Kissoon does not know anything about me much less my travel plans which I will explain later.

So let me upbraid this Kaieteur News columnist who thinks he alone knows all about the politics, economics and history of Guyana and is the only one who has a panacea for all of Guyana’s socio-economic and geo-politics problems. He has the temerity to say that Guyanese who reside in the Diaspora should not write or discuss anything about the issues in Guyana because according to him, they have abandoned the country when things were ‘ruff’. He has relegated Guyanese in the Diaspora as second-class citizens while he has not said anything negative about non-Guyanese coming to Guyana. Also, he has no clue that remittances from the Diaspora have contributed to more than 30 per cent [of] Guyana’s GDP.

However, Mr Kissoon does not live in the US, Canada, the Caribbean, or Latin America, or any country except for Guyana, yet he writes about those countries. By now, Mr. Kissoon should know that there is a new marvel known as SOCIAL MEDIA which he has stated that he is not familiar with because he does not have a smart phone. If he has any knowledge about SOCIAL MEDIA, he will refrain from writing such things about Guyanese in the diaspora. The social media has turned the world into a small village. Based on his ill-thoughts and poor logic, only those who live in Ukraine should write about the war currently taking place in that country with Russia.

I am pleased to inform Mr. Kissoon that I was in Guyana in 2021, from May 14 to October 28 due to the COVID pandemic which allows me to do my job virtually. I returned to Guyana on December 13, 2021, and departed on March 8, 2022, because I had to be on site for my job due to the lifting of COVID restrictions imposed by the authorities. I returned to Guyana on May 17, 2022, and after two and a half months, I am still here. During my five and a half months in Guyana in 2021, and my two and a half months this year and now another two and a half months, I have travelled extensively the length and breadth of the country from the Rupununi districts to the Brazilian and Venezuelan borders, to Molson Creek and to Orealla, including all the towns including Linden, Mahdia and Lethem etc. and the districts and villages. The reason for my lengthy visits is based solely on my interests, but I was not stuck-up in Georgetown, walking my dog on the seawalls, or going to Giftland mall, or Survival supermarket. Instead, I visited both the high and low-end restaurants, clubs, bars in the city and elsewhere to meet with people.

So, Mr. Kissoon, please do not write anything about me period because it will be false. And for you to say that I have not visited Guyana in recent times without even contacting me is not only poor journalism but is also a fiction.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Asquith Rose.