More than 100 people, among them masqueraders costumed as midnight robbers and moko jumbies, paraded through the streets of Port-of-Spain yesterday to protest what they said was the slow killing of Carnival by the organisers.President of the T&T Carnival Bandleaders Association (TTCBA) Gerard Weekes said the group's protest was a result of the inability of the National Carnival Commission (NCC) to treat with a variety of issues arising from Carnival 2013 and preceding years.
The issues included: more transparent adjudication and registration processes; a proper plan to address congestion during the Parade of the Bands; and an investigation into the use of funds for Carnival by the National Carnival Bands Association (NCBA).The group, with placards expressing outrage over the NCBA's handling of prize money for this year's Carnival competitions, also called for the removal of the NCBA and its president David Lopez as the representative body for mas practitioners.
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They marched from the office of the National Carnival Commission on Gray Street, St Clair, pausing several times along the way to the Ministry of Arts and Multiculturalism in Nicholas Towers on Independence Square.One of these stops took place outside of the NCBA offices on Tragarete Road and resulted in a brief standoff between Lopez and the protesters, who angrily called for explanations for what they described as discrepancies in competition prizes.
One man, Maxine Pemberton, showed a cheque he received in 2011 from the NCBA for $11,300 for placing second in the individual-of-the-year competition.This year, Pemberton said, he placed first but received only $2,000 in prizes.Lopez, in response to angry questions, said he was more than willing to meet with the TTCBA once a time and place were set.
Weekes agreed and the protesters continued their march toward St Vincent Street, stopping in front of Attorney General Anand Ramlogan's office, before making for Independence Square.After a few minutes standing on the Promenade, Weekes was called into a brief meeting with Arts Minister Dr Lincoln Douglas who left his office shortly afterwards to meet with the group of masqueraders.
Douglas said he was meeting with the NCC and the Attorney General to begin the legal process of assessing the official representation of mas in T&T."We will get the process clarified and one way or the other we will get this solved before Carnival 2014," Douglas said.Douglas said the other concerns would have to be solved via the NCC as it was the body responsible for Carnival activities.
"I am mainly concerned with the smooth running of Carnival and the various art forms in T&T. The issue of who represents mas in T&T is something that I will work on," he said. "The issue of disbursement of funds is a matter for the NCC."In a release yesterday, the NCC said it would take action to deal with some of the concerns identified by the mas practitioners but could not interfere in the internal affairs of the NCBA.