And of course carnival wouldn’t be carnival without controversy and the controversy this time is with the announcement of the winner. After Saturday’s road march, the host announced that Southside Masqueraders had won but ten minutes later a new winner was announced. Southside’s bandleader says they feel cheated.
Marsha Smith,
“They said we won and then afterwards they said we didn’t. I don’t understand that.”
Miss Pinkie,
“They came back and they announced that they made a mistake and that is Mother Nature’s Creation that had won. We are trying to understand what went on. We feel we are not getting fair judgment and a fair deal in this carnival. We’ve been coming out for too long. We struggle on our own. We got $1,000 from Benny’s, that is one of our main sponsors. Simon Quan helped us a little and after that no one else, we were out there on our own. Tutsi gave us water and ideal and that’s about it. Everybody else got big sponsors and we didn’t get any so we don’t see why they are riding us so hard. Is it because we are from the ghetto? It is not fair. Nobody wants to come through here, nobody wants to come through Ghost Town. What happened? No lot of murders and things happen through here as much as it is anywhere else. I don’t see what is the big deal and the problem with me. I think they are pushing us too hard for no reason.”
7NEWS produced for broadcast by News Director Jules Vasquez
Edited and Prepared for the internet by Keith Swift
