The Guyana Press Association (GPA) has condemned attempt by the organisers of the Guyana Energy Conference to constrain the media’s free access to delegates and other participants of the event scheduled for February 14 to 17, 2023.
In a statement the body said many of the delegates coming to the Conference are from free, open and democratic societies where press freedom and media access are the norm. But in the instance of Guyana, where press access is being restricted, they will see this quite possibly as a novel experience for them given that conference organisers are holding themselves out as the “conduit” for arranging interviews, GPA asserted.
Further, the GPA said the press notes with alarm the restriction of the media to physical access to the Opening event today, and from all cosmetic explanations given so far, can only conclude that there is a sinister motive.
These are nothing else but attempts at State-driven control of the media and so foreign delegates should not be seen to be a party to conduct that smacks of some sort of press restriction, the body declared.
“The media, rather than the organisers of the Guyana Energy Conference, are the true and authentic conduits between decision-makers and the working class.”
