Regional Carnival a success

PAULA ATHERLY, commissioner for Regional Carnival, said her committee was given an allocation of $6 million to run Regional Carnival and was pleased with the success which was accomplished this year.

“With that we have been able to service 53 district committees all of whom have been given a mandate to promote traditional mas,” Atherly said.

Speaking at the prize-giving function of the Couva Carnival Committee, Atherly said she was elated by the effort of some of the districts which organised workshops.

“We see the progress being made especially for 2006. We see our achievement as a milestone to rekindle traditional mas in the country,” she said.

The function was held at Sevilla Club, Brechin Castle, Couva, on Saturday. Atherly paid tribute to chairman Ramchand Rajbal and his committee, “for their excellence and efficiency over the past eight years.”

Atherly touched on the recent murder of six-year-old Sean Luke of Orange Valley. She said that it was a gruesome and ghastly incident and which, perhaps, was a lesson to “us to embrace our children and to demonstrate love and affection much more.”

“Some of them are in real trouble. They are hurting with neglect and emptiness in their lives. We have to ensure their happiness,” she said. “Today I cry because we have lost a child. We need to give our children self-respect and a sense of pride to live peaceful and harmonious lives and to become involved in lofty pursuits that have enriching goals,” she said. Atherly stated that “we need to give our children self- respect and a sense of pride to live peaceful and harmonious lives and to become involved in lofty pursuits that have enriching goals.”

Band of the Year, “From the Barbaric Age,” led by Herman Clarke of Gilda Street, Point Lisas Gardens won $8,000 and the Touch n’ Taste Challenge Trophy.