MAYOR CALLS FOR MORE SUPPORT FOR 'WEBEAT’

AN appeal to businesses in St James for greater support for the WeBeat Festival was made by Port-of-Spain Mayor Murchison Brown at the opening of the nine-day cultural extravaganza at the St James Amphitheatre last Friday night. “I predict that more and more visitors will be coming to Trinidad and Tobago for this festival,” said Brown, who is patron of the event. “I am therefore appealing to corporate St James to give greater support to this event as it brings a lot of business to St James. It is only fitting that they make a more valuable contribution. We must be proud of our product.”

The loudly applauded address by the Mayor was the highlight of  the official part of the programme, attended by Minister of State in the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and Gender Affairs Eulalie James; Director of Culture Finbar Ryan, and several members of the Diplomatic Corps. WeBeat St James Live is presented by the St James Community Improvement Committee (CIC), headed by businessman Earl Crosby, who welcomed patrons and outlined the varied programme of activities that will take place at the venue over the next nine days.

Vice president of the St James CIC Anthony Ferguson, in presenting tokens of appreciation to this year’s honouree Mohammed “Hamdo” Emamali, said the committee was guided by “the law of probability and virtue of patience” in selecting the honouree. Emamali was honoured for his contribution over the years to the development of St James, especially in the area of the Hosay celebrations, the quality of which has earned the community a respected reputation. In response to acceptance of the awards, Emamali said he never thought he would get an award for “the little I have done to make St James a more loving and nicer place.”