Distress for the sake of Carnival?

THE EDITOR: About a week ago there was a meeting between the Woodbrook Residents Association and the National Carnival Commission (NCC) headed by Winston “Gypsy” Peters to discuss the Carnival grievances of residents.

In a nutshell, the message relayed by the NCC chairman was simply that Carnival is a big revenue earner for the country so residents must be willing to put up with the inconvenience for the two days.

This is after Peters was made aware of the fact that the walls of residents were doused with paint by J’Ouvert revellers and confetti sprayed by bands on Tuesday ended up inside houses.

There was no mention of compensation, almost as if it is now the accepted norm for J’Ouvert revellers to throw paint on people’s walls. I wonder if Peters would accept it if it was done to his property?

Imagine there is a company offering to cover walls for J’Ouvert for a price based on square footage. A new lucrative business. That’s where we reach?

My personal grouse is that J’Ouvert bands that start off by the Jean Pierre Complex and Woodbrook Youth Facility should not be allowed to come up lower O’Connor street but instead be sent through Fitz Blackman Drive by the Lions Civic Centre and onto Maraval Parkway, thence to Ariapita Avenue.

What is so difficult in doing this? Surely at 4 am J’Ouvert revellers are not looking for shortcut routes as “de party now start” so nobody is tired. I’m sure they would not mind.

I believe that because the chairman knows that Woodbrook residents are not tyre-burning protesters it is alright to do with us as he chooses.

On another point, on Tuesday morning I was awakened by loud fireworks explosions at 3.30 am from Machel Monday. If I didn’t know better I would have thought the third world war had begun. Come on people, we agreed years ago that fireworks should be used early at night (if at all), not 3.30 am.

It’s like we are taking one step forward and three backwards. For the love of country? You serious?

W DOPSON

Woodbrook