Stakeholders walk out of meeting
with new Carnival foundation reps
PHILIPSBURG--Yet another attempt at constructive dialogue between St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) and the Carnival stakeholders who are threatening to boycott next year’s Carnival ended prematurely last night with the stakeholders storming out of the meeting.
Last night’s was the first meeting between members of the new SCDF board headed by Kendall Dupersoy and the stakeholders group. An attempt was made to iron out the controversial issues, including that of the availability of show nights for promoters within the stakeholders group.
Dupersoy was interrupted and sworn at while he tried to explain that certain nights had already been allocated to other promoters, as the promoters at the meeting were not satisfied with the arrangements for the nights of April 16, 20 and 23.
Latin night promoter François “Cuchie” Hunt became upset when he was asked once again last night to consider teaming up with another long-time promoter already signed up to host a Latin night. Hunt refused to consider the suggestion and the commotion that ensued culminated in the stakeholders storming out of the meeting in Dr. A. C. Wathey Legislative Hall in the Government Administration Building.
According to SCDF, it had already adjusted the Carnival schedule to have the annual festival start one day earlier than originally planned, to allow three nights for the promoters.
Dupersoy said it was a matter of the promoters coming to a consensus on, for example, which promoters would like to swap particular nights. He stressed that while the stakeholders believed SCDF should be mindful of their needs, the foundation must also take into account its obligations to the other Carnival stakeholders who had been cooperating with the board from the beginning.
He said that while members of the stakeholders group were also considered important partners, SCDF also had to stick to its programme and there was not much time remaining for a final determination of who would be in and who would be out.
Despite the stakeholders’ insistence on discussing only the issue of show nights for the promoters, some other issues were also raised. These included a suggestion that the calypso eliminations already scheduled to be hosted in the village be held at an alternative venue.
As the meeting had ended on a sour note, Dupersoy said he was not sure what the board’s next step would be. It would have to meet and discuss this. However, he said the stakeholders’ behaviour last night – especially taking into account remarks such as that SCDF was still being run by former president Fabiana Arnell – was a clear indication that they were not interested in working with the new board.
Dupersoy said Carnival without the involvement of the stakeholders group’s involvement would be “sad,” but so too would be Carnival without the involvement of the already registered Carnival participants. He was hopeful that a reasonable solution would be found, creating a balance for all. He said the board was merely asking the stakeholders to meet it at least halfway.
When asked about the results of the meeting last night, stakeholders’ spokesperson Marvin “King Stunky” Dollison refrained from making any comments.
