BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – SOME portions of society shared mix views about the security and safety aspect of the Grand Parade and Las’ Lap. But the question is…“Was it better than last year?”
In an exclusive interview with SKNVibes Entertainment a week before Carnival kicked off, Chairman of the Carnival Committee Sylvester Anthony said that the group had ensured that “security is our number one priority for Carnival”, due to the unforgettable events of the past which some citizens still fear to this day.
Anthony also said that the committee had been in constant talks with the Security Forces to rectify and ensure that the security aspect of Carnival was fully covered by all means necessary.
The Chairman, during the interview, also said: “If we find vendors selling beverages in bottles we will withdraw their licence to sell and that is how serious we are taking it this year. Last year, for example, when I was there I had to stop some of them.”
However, SKNVibes Entertainment, while following the two-day celebration found that most of the vendors who sold alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages were following the rules set by the committee and sold the beverages in plastic cups.
This rules were also followed by the food and beverage bands of the entertainment groups which took a different approach and served their beverages in handy bottles and sack.
But, this probably did not apply to some tourists who were seen with beers in glass bottles and, as such, investigations revealed that most of them were sold at some of the bars at Port Zante.
Of course, this might not be a big concern but think about what could happen if one of the bottles were left on the road or at the corner of a street.
There were also some reports of bottle pelting at both the Grand Parade and Las’ Lap, but these incidents were reported to have happened during the period when both events came to a close.
When asked about their thoughts on the security aspect of Carnival, an onlooker had this to say: “Security and safety this year, I can say is better than last year for sure and probably the years before. We had more Marshalls on the ground making sure that the tractors don’t kill anyone and thank God we are all alive this year.”
Another man said, “Well, I was impressed by the work of the Army and I commend them for turning out in their numbers and making sure everything went smoothly. But what I was disturbed about is the fact that there were not many police officers on the ground.”
Another safety aspect of Carnival that we noticed was the dangerous utility wires which hung overhead while most of the bands were passing along the different routes.
Members of the big bands such as Nu Vybes, Kollision, Grand Masters and Small Axe were seen either ducking under the live wires, using their hands to remove them or take a different route to avoid contact.
Fortunately, there were no reports of any injuries. But, maybe, this is something the Carnival Committee can look into next year and make suitable adjustments to its safety and security agenda.
