The Dennery North Constituency Council is gravely concerned about inaccurate information being disseminated on social media, resulting in a dark veil over an otherwise colourful and vivacious annual celebration of our culture, heritage and tradition – The Mabouya Valley Carnival.
Recognising the need for community carnival activities to be all-inclusive and encompassing, a decision was made on 22 nd September, 2016, under the leadership of Mr. Aloysius Cumberbatch and Ms. Angelina “Phera” Polius, for the Dennery North Constituency Council to spearhead many community activities, including the Mabouya Valley Carnival.
Minutes of meetings held with Ms. Colia Shoulette, dated 19th September and 22nd October, 2019 reflect the discussion and agreement with the Council on an effective and fiscally responsible management plan for the event.
It is against this backdrop, the present Council adopted the approach of previous Councillors and decided to uphold the decision to have a community organisation to spearhead the upcoming community carnival event.
A series of consultation took place between 24th November, 2022 and 28th February, 2023, resulting in the formal establishment of the Mabouya Valley Carnival Committee, chaired by Mr. Jason Darius.
Seven (7) other members accepted the invitation to serve on this committee, including Ms. Shoulette.
Furthermore, the national Carnival Planning and Management Committee (CPMC) has mandated that all community carnival events must be managed by recognised community organisations in order to receive state funding for these ventures.
In other words, state funds will not be made available to private promoters. This propelled the stakeholder consultations with artistes, the youth council, carnival organisers, band leaders, etc.
It is indeed unfortunate that Ms. Shoulette walked out of the first meeting and has not sought to air her grievances with the Dennery North Constituency Council in a meaningful way.
It is most unfortunate that the upcoming celebrations are marred with controversy and is being dragged through the Courts of Social Media.
The Council is satisfied that all parties were sufficiently engaged with a view to hosting a spectacular celebration.
It must be noted that the Council is not the authority for granting permits for hosting mass crowd events and as such cannot influence the approval of a second Mabouya Valley Carnival.
The Dennery North Constituency Council continues to welcome the support of all persons interested in contributing to the success of the Mabouya Valley Carnival.
The Council has not deviated from the standard outlined by the CPMC: other constituencies such as Gros Islet, Dennery South, Canaries, Soufriere, and Micoud are all managed by Committees.
The Mabouya Valley Carnival Committee will proceed with the organization and execution of Mabouya Valley Carnival with a series of events hosted by the registered bands and parade of the bands on 5th and 6th August, 2023.
SOURCE: Dennery North Constituency Council
