Hinds threatens legal action

Attorney Indra Ramoutar-Liverpool yesterday sent a letter on behalf of Hinds, requesting that the San Fernando Carnival Development Committee furnish her with original copies of the results for the Kings and Queens of the Bands and Band of the Year competition. Those competitions were held on February 22 and 23 - Carnival Monday and Tuesday respectively.

In a March 9 letter to the committee, Ramoutar-Liverpool stated that if the score sheets are not handed over to Hinds, the matter would be taken to another level.

“Egypt, Land of the Pharaohs,” won Band of the Year (South). But Hinds, who had won the competition last year, is contending that the winning “Egypt, Land of the Pharaohs” band did nothave the required 200 members to classify it as a “big” band. In Ramoutar-Liverpool’s letter, Hinds also questioned whether the competition was based on judging at three venues - Skiffle Bunch Pan Theatre, Skinner Park and Harris Promenade.

The attorney pointed out in the letter that the committee’s guidelines stated that John’s Bar on Royal Road, was a fourth judging point. The letter stated that if there were only three judging points, then Harris Promenade should have been eliminated because it was not named in the guidelines as one of the judging points.

Ramoutar-Liverpool stated in the letter that she was also instructed by Hinds that the winning band had portrayed the same costumes at Labour Day Celebrations in Brooklyn 2005. She added that this was contrary to the rules which stipulate — originality — as a condition for a band to compete in carnival Tuesday competitions. The letter to the committee stated, “Originality, as define by your rules, may connote newness, novelty, unusualness and elements of the extraordinary.”

When contacted yesterday, the committee’s Chariman Mayor Ian Atherly, said that the judges decision was final. He said there would always be opposition to change, especially considering a band like Hinds which has been in existence close to 50 years “losing to a newcomer”.