Monday launch for Chutney Soca Monarch

Less than 24 hours after he announced it was cancelled, Southex CEO George Singh said yesterday the Chutney Soca Monarch competition will take place after all, though on a slightly reduced scale.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Singh said the decision to reinstate the competition was made after an emergency meeting with his management team at which the $1 million offer by Finance Minister Colm Imbert for sponsorship of the annual show was discussed.

“We have to scale back the production slightly because the money is not the same as 2017, but we willing,“ Singh said. ”After an emergency meeting with my team last night, we are willing to work with the amount, and we are happy that we are able to put the show back on for the national public.”

Imbert announced the allocation at a media conference at his ministry on Thursday evening.

Singh said the competition would be officially launched on Monday at NLCB’s box at the Queen’s Park Oval, where the names of the 30 semifinalists would also be announced.

He said the semifinal venue would remain the same, though a decision would have to be made on a venue for the finals.

“We still have some issues to sort out with regard to whether the show is at Skinner Park or where else.

The other fact is that Skinner Park is an expensive venue, and not only the rental of Skinner Park, but the logistics of putting on the show at Skinner Park in terms of the police and fire.”