Chutney Monarch final postponed indefinitely

The 2005 National Chutney Monarch has been postponed indefinitely due to the current hospitalisation of the reigning monarch Adesh Samaroo. President of the National Chutney Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago (NCFTT), Dr Vijay Ramlal, told the media at a press conference held at the Mas Camp Pub yesterday that after consulting with all parties involved in the competition, including other top chutney artistes and main sponsor Toyota, the decision was taken to postpone the event. The competition was originally scheduled for the first week of May. Ramlal added that the Foundation wanted to let the Samaroo family know that it had agreed to wait, while observing the progress of Samaroo’s recovery before having further discussions about the event.

The new date for the finals will be determined after more consultation with the doctors and Samaroo himself. He did state though that the final would be held in 2005. Samaroo has been warded at the Seventh Day Adventist Hospital in Cocorite after being transferred from the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex following his recent vehicular accident on the Eastern Main Road, outside Emerald Plaza in St Augustine. Spokesperson for the family Imtiaz Seepersad updated the media on Samaroo’s progress stating:  “As of yesterday the doctor’s report stated that Adesh is now off the ventilator. We also had reports that there may be brain damage but we can safely say now that there is no brain damage.

He has been recognising people, he has been calling out to people, he knows what songs are his, so it is safe to say that he is more or less out of danger.” Seepersad added that Samaroo’s temperature had gone down considerably and declared that the artiste suffered no injury from his neck down. Samaroo will be undergoing surgery tomorrow to rectify the fractures on his face, around the nose area and on the cheek bones. Seepersad has promised  to update the public on the results of the surgery via the media.