Georges Nandan
~ No communication to POSH about licence termination ~
PHILIPSBURG--Georges Nandan out of Guadeloupe, who has a long history in pageantry, says he along with another person, are the new Miss World franchise holders for Dutch St. Maarten, indicating that they have had the license since October last year.
In an invited comment, Posh Productions (POSH) President Cassandra Weekes-Jeffers said while POSH obtained its license for St. Maarten back in 2018, it has never received any formal communication regarding the termination of the license POSH holds for Miss World indicating that it is no longer the Franchise holder.
“As President of Posh Productions, I have sent numerous emails as well as messages via social media platforms to the representatives of Miss World to which no response to date has been received,” she said on Tuesday evening in an invited comment.
Nandan, who said he is also the Miss World license holder for Guadeloupe for more than 25 years and instrumental in many beauty competitions on that island, was instrumental in Lara Mateo being sent to represent St. Maarten in the Miss World Pageant held from November to December 2021. The Miss World finals was cancelled due to COVID-19 and it is expected to be rescheduled to early this year.
Nandan told The Daily Herald on Tuesday that he will be travelling to St. Maarten later this month to meet with representatives of government on the matter and also meet with the press to explain the situation.
“Yes, I am the new franchise [holder – Ed.] for St. Maarten, but I should [be] meeting the government of the Dutch [side] for a discussion,” he said. “It is just last October I received the franchise for the participation of St. Maarten at Miss World. Yes, the [other] license [holder] she [wrote] Miss World, but now that [is] clear. I need to explain this for the people of St. Maarten. She is not the new license [holder]. It is another person with me.”
Nandan wants to speak to representatives of the government of St. Maarten first and did not respond to a number of questions asked. “This is the reason I need to have a meeting with the government of St. Maarten. I was coming to St. Maarten a long time. I like this island,” he said, noting that his efforts are to help the country and its tourism product. “It is [to] help St. Maarten tourism and [the country] will come back after 22 years in Miss World. It is for the promotion of the island in a show of Miss World. It is important [to] help [the] tourism industry.”
He wants the St. Maarten public to know that Miss World is “a great family” and the organisation will be pleased that St. Maarten is making a comeback to the pageant after many years of not competing. “I am the supervisor of the most important beauty competition in the world. I have some sponsors [all] over the world to help me. Now it is very difficult [because] the COVID [situation is] critical, but for my great love of this island St. Maarten, I [am] lucky to [have] found some private sponsors to help me with the participation of St. Maarten after 22 years. I wish the government of the Dutch [side] are very happy with this participation. It is just [to] help the tourism industry…”
POSH
Asked to comment on the matter, Weekes-Jeffers said just because one claims to be the new license holder for a country, does not entitle them to select and send any young woman to the Miss World event without the blessing nor permission of the government in which she is representing.
“Mr. Georges stated he now holds the License for Dutch St. Maarten. As a Guadeloupian resident and French citizen, we cannot help, but question why was Miss Mateo not the representative of the Northern, French side of the island? Is it that they also denounced her?” she asked.
“This young lady was not only fraudulently sent to represent a country to which she is not a citizen, but blatantly disrespected our Country’s Flag, culture and embarrassed an entire people on a global stage. I would also like to ask the Miss World representatives how they could allow this to occur and simply turn a blind eye to the communications, emails and press releases regarding this matter. I would like to ask why Mr. Georges is more inclined to visit radio stations and newspapers rather than meet with Posh and the government officials of St. Maarten to apologise for the disgrace him and Miss Mateo has placed on our country St. Maarten.”
The POSH president believes it is important to point out that since its launch, POSH has worked tirelessly to establish an opportunity for St. Maarten to finally join other Caribbean islands on the world stage in pageantry. “We want St. Maarten to be consistent on these platforms. The pandemic derailed much of our plans but we are steadfast in our pursuit to have St. Maarten climb the ranks in regional and international pageants. As such, POSH remains focused to take the necessary steps to establish St. Maarten as a competitor in world pageantry.”
