Gypsy: I had nothing to do with Fay Ann appointment

NATIONAL Carnival Commission (NCC) chairman Winston “Gypsy” Peters has made it clear that he had nothing to do with the appointment of his niece soca star Fay Ann Lyons-Alvarez as the new chair of the International Soca Monarch show.

He said that the NCC is simply a facilitator of the International Soca Monarch (ISM) and is there to ensure the Soca Monarch show is a viable and well-run product with the Carnival.

It was announced earlier today Lyons-Alvarez is the new chair after Peter Scoon resigned. Peters said the NCC played no role in Lyons-Alvarez becoming soca monarch chair. He added, “As a matter of fact, I did not know she was the chair until they told me that...That is totally a soca monarch decision.”

Lyons-Alvarez was appointed by Caribbean Prestige Foundation, the organisers of ISM. Asked what he felt Lyons-Alvarez could bring to the competition, Peters said that question would be better posed to Caribbean Prestige Foundation.

Peters added, “We at the NCC would not like to see a product that we have worked hard to build in TT, that the world is now gravitating to, to fall.

Because we are responsible for Carnival in TT in its entirety we want to make sure our input there would ensure that the soca monarch remains a viable and profitable product in our Carnival space.”