The ban on glass bottles in Port-of-Spain which was expected to start tomorrow is in limbo. A note has not been taken to Cabinet and so it has not been proclaimed by President George Maxwell Richards. This was according to Port-of-Spain mayor Louis Lee Sing who has been clamouring for the ban after last year's Carnival when one person was allegedly stabbed to death and another was injured by glass bottles.
Lee Sing said Local Government Minister Chandresh Sharma was not likely to take the note to Cabinet and the corporation anticipated the legal framework required would not be present. The ban was expected to take effect from tomorrow until Tuesday night. Sharma told the media last week that Lee Sing had no authority to ban glass bottles.
Yesterday, at a press conference at City Hall, Lee Sing introduced 51-year-old Jacqueline Nero who lost her right eye when she was struck by a beer bottle on January 22 last year at a cooler fete. The Port-of-Spain City Corporation approved the resolution at a meeting last January 12. Lee Sing and his council members met with all stakeholders on August 11 last year to discuss the proposal and to encourage "a buy-in" to the ban.
He said from August to January this year research was done by police and the corporation on how to proceed. Lee Sing said he realised he was addressing the wrong minister and after advice from attorney John Jeremy decided to write National Security Minister John Sandy and Arts and Multiculturalism Minister Winston "Gypsy" Peters. The mayor said: "I hope they will find the testicular fortitude and take the matter to the Cabinet tomorrow (today) so it could be included in a memoir to the President who will duly include this matter in his proclamations for Carnival."
Lee Sing said Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar should fire Sharma for his ineptness and incompetence. He said the minister's response to the ban was unacceptable. Carib Brewery and Angostura already have given support to the ban. Nero, a self-employed mother of two, ages 18 and five, held back her tears as she recounted what happened.
She said a fight broke out at the fete and glass bottles were thrown in the air. She said she sought cover behind a wall as she tried to make an escape and when she thought it had cleared she raised her head but was hit. Nero said after surgery, doctors told her she had lost vision in the eye and also her told she had to return to have it completely removed. Lee Sing said he did all that was necessary and appealed to citizens to understand the proposal for the ban.