Latest update September 3rd, 2026 10:25 AM
Freddie Kissoon replies to Mario’s
Dear Editor,
First things first. I don’t know anyone at Mario’s, have nothing personal against Mario’s and would continue to be a customer of Mario’s. My daughter is in love with the foods of Mario’s so I am a frequent patron there and my patronage would continue.
What I wrote about Mario’s in my Tuesday column I would repeat. I have no apologies for the motive that was involved in writing in the first place. I do concede that I was aggressive but the reason for speaking out I cling to.
If Mr. Campbell read the particular column he would see there was a big criticism of GT&T for selling a $5,000 cell phone (which I bought) which ought not to be sold. I have friends at GT&T and many of my nice former students work there.
I don’t expect Mr. Campbell to have followed my columns for newspapers here in Guyana the past twenty-three years. I would like to inform him that my castigations of the retail trade and customer mistreatment in the corporate world in Guyana have been the subject of countless columns.
Here is a brief sample so Mr. Campbell would know there was no targeting of Mario’s. Twice I wrote on the practice of the guards at the exit of National Hardware going through with a fine teeth comb all the purchases of customers except mine of course because I would never allow that kind of invasion of my privacy. I wrote about that too at Giftland Office Max and complained to Beepat’s son-in-law.
I did two columns of unacceptable practices at Republic Bank, and three on GT&T, going back to the days of Father Morison my editor at the Catholic Standard. Two weeks ago my focus was Hand-in-Hand Insurance Company. I have not shied away from condemnations of unprofessional journalistic management at the Stabroek News. I publicly criticize the newspaper I write for.
Some statements in Mr. Campbell’s letter are not factual. I never wrote a single line about the presence of governmental politicians at the opening of Mario’s. If he is a betting man, I will offer Mr. Campbell the prospect of me ending my KN columns if he can show me when and where I did that. If he loses, he has to provide weekly meals to the children of depressed areas of my choice. Are you a betting man, Mr. Campbell?
I did mention money-laundering but not drug trafficking but Mr. Campbell’s employees did not describe the context. I explained to Ms. Cumberbatch that I find Mario’s to be a secretive operation in that you can never get the names of the senior officers when you request them. I then asked if the place has something to hide, if they are into money laundering.
By any stretch of one’s semantic imagination that cannot be the same as accusing someone of money-laundering. I did not say I would seek investigation of Mario’s. I don’t believe Mario’s is into anything illegal. Neither do I have contacts with the Government of Guyana to call for such an investigation. I have no such contacts and want no such contacts.
Finally, what I wrote about Mario’s was part of my life as a human rights activists. I do believe that the retail trade, the restaurant trade and corporate world in Guyana treat Guyanese very badly because there is no functioning Consumer Affairs Organization.
I want to inform Mr. Camopbell that there is no way I will allow Hand-in-Hand from stopping me from parking on North Road which it seems to have claimed and which I wrote about.
I refused the extra pizza Mr. Campbell because I felt I was being patronized. Please do not do that in the future. I resent it
Frederick Kissoon
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