Several egos were left nursing wounds in the wake of Chinese Vice-President Xi Jingping’s departure from the Sangster International Airport following last Saturday’s ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the Montego Bay Convention Centre.

Described by insiders as particularly stressful, the programme which was planned by the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) saw the local media, the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the children of the John Rollins Success Primary school getting slighted.

The children suffered the worst by far.

After practising their little hearts out in the broiling sun, they were called onstage to entertain a crowd that had already left the main tent to view the actual ground-breaking ceremony.

Minutes later it dawned on everyone that they weren’t coming back.

“I was so embarassed,” said one little girl on the brink of tears.

“Nobody was even listening to us.”

Her recollection was slightly inaccurate; UDC chairman Wayne Chen came back to join the sprinkling of spectators who stood around for a bit while the children belted out a selection of folk songs and poems to a mostly empty tent.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding also came back and mingled briefly with the remnants of the crowd.

The Chinese contingent which comprised scores of journalists and construction workers fared better.

Their display of culture by scores of flag-waving Chinese construction workers who welcomed the arrival of the official party comprising Golding, Chen, Jingping, Montego Bay Mayor Charles Sinclair and Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett, with a rhythmic chant in Chinese – got prime time attention.

And their obviously briefed media received nothing but courtesy and superior vantage points from which to record the event.

However when some members of the local media – who missed the memo about staying behind the Chinese press corps – inched forward for a better shot, they were met with a full view of one of the co-ordinator’s tonsils.

“Oonu nuh hear whe mi seh? mi seh unoo fi gooo baaaaack ova deh sooo!”

President of the Western Jamaica Media Association Janet Silvera, was among those appalled.

“I blinked several times in disbelief. I mean, I know it was a cultural event, but somehow I hadn’t anticipated that our dialect would have been presented in quite this way,” she said.

President of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce, Lloyd B Smith was also perturbed.

“I saw it all and I have no hesitation in saying that the local media were rebuffed treated like second-class citizens. They were ignored and even when they sought information, the manner in which they were spoken to was arrogant and very evasive. Those responsible for handling the media on these ocassions need to be made to understand that the local media is as important if not more important than the foreign media,” he said.

Smith also took umbrage to the failure to mention the role that the MBCCI played in lobbying for the Convention Centre.

“The MBCCI is very, very concerned that after its many years of lobbying, it was in no way recognised. We would have thought that even if we weren’t placed on the programme, we would have been recognised. It was a major slight that we feel very saddened about and we will be issuing a statement later this week,” he said.

Doreen O’Connor, Director of the Urban Development Corporation’s Corporate Relations Department, chose not to comment on the complaints received by the Observer West.

However she advised that it would not be correct to attribute the planning of the function to the UDC.

“In the best spirit of co-operation and collaboration, the planning and execution of the ceremony benefitted from the effort of a team of both Jamaican and Chinese representatives,” she said in a brief statement.