Carnival Band rules amended after parade with no results

NCC Chairman Kenny De Silva gave the assurance yesterday that there would be no recurrence of a parade of the bands without a result as was the case this year.

De Silva was speaking to band owners, masqueraders and other stakeholders at the NCC’s Queen’s Park Savannah headquarters as the commission handed out “performance” fees to bands. When the Court ruled that the results of Carnival 2003 were invalid due to a violation of the rules, the NCC was left with money which could not be legitimately distributed as prizes to the bands. The money could be utilised to pay the $700,000 lawyers fees, for injection into Carnival 2004 or for distribution to bands as “performance fees” to help in offsetting expenses and other financial obligations incurred as a result of the past parade. The commission chose the last of their three options. “We had to be careful with handing out the money, but we know that particularly the mini, small and medium bands would have made various financial commitments. In addition, all measures are being put in place to ensure that the problems with the adjudication process do not recur At no time in the future should there be a Carnival without a result!” declared De Silva.

Well known Carnival historian Ken “Sheppy” Sheppard questioned the involvement of the National Carnival Bands Association (NCBA) which he relabelled the “National Cheque Bouncers Association.” Sheppard exclaimed, “the NCBA is a glee club, a group of friends who should not be involved in our national festival!” According to the Chairman of the newly formed National Carnival Development Association, Donald Little, his organisation wishes to “make Carnival the industry that it is supposed to be. Imagine that no one has a list of the bands in Trinidad and Tobago, the constitution does not detail what a band really is. These are matters which must be addressed.”

According to both Sheppard and Little, the NCDF is presently the only registered Carnival association in Trinidad and Tobago and should be treated as such. “The NCC is the only body which is in charge of Carnival but we openly welcome the ideas of the NCDF,” added De Silva.When asked if the NCBA would continue to play the role which they have in previous Carnival celebrations, De Silva assured  that there would be new rules for Carnival 2004. He did not divulge the rule changes but said that they would be circulated to the relevant parties. The “performance fees” which were distributed exceeded $300,000.