Decision on Carnival 2003 prize monies today

Following the High Court ruling last month where the 2003 Carnival results were annulled, National Carnival Commission (NCC) Chairman Kenny de Silva told Newsday yesterday that the NCC Board could not pay out any prize monies as the court ruled that there were no winners.

This was in response to questions raised on the status of the 2003 prize monies. The National Carnival Development Foundation (NCDF) has since written to the NCC, recommending that the prize monies be distributed evenly amongst all participating bands per category. Secretary of the NCDF David Mc Kell, stated in a release yesterday that it was a reasonable position for the NCC to take since it would provide some long needed financial relief for a large number of bands given the present situation. But de Silva did not want to take any decision personally on the matter. He said: “The recommendation by the NCDF, along with a number of other recommendations will be tabled today at board level and the NCC board will decide what to do with the monies”.

The NCDF viewed the circumstances that led to the annulment of the results as “most unfortunate,” and blamed the National Carnival Bandleaders Association (NCBA) for the judging debacle. They said the NCBA failed to assist the NCC as requested, after an earlier court judgement in favour of the latter to run the Carnival. That decision has since been appealed by the NCBA, and is awaiting hearing. In light of this factor and also because of the time of year, the NCDF is recommending that the NCC start training judges, identify location of production facilities for legitimate small and medium bands, open up financial lines of credit for small and medium bands, and make provisions for the training in accounts, management and marketing for bands. That too will be discussed  at the NCC board meeting.