DURING a sitting of the lower house of parliament, Wednesday, Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre commended the collaborative efforts from members of the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (RSLPF), the City Police and officers within the ranks of the Regional Security System (RSS) for their relentless work undertaken throughout the Carnival festivities.
While echoing the sentiments of his ministerial colleagues in acknowledging the hard work and dedication of the officers, Pierre, also responsible for National Security, noted there were no reports of any major incidents for the season.
He said that while citizens are “always very quick to condemn” when things go wrong, however, when things work out properly the public rarely gives credit to the officers.
“The police force has been under tremendous pressure over the last weeks and months, and years, but particularly over the last few weeks,” said PM Pierre.
“And they showed their resolve and the commitment to doing their job …and understood that what’s important is to remain focused and they remained focused and for the season there were no major incidents.”
The prime minister also spoke about persons that were out to ‘create mischief’ and put the country in a bad light. He referred to some “fake murder reports” that was posted on the internet, last Friday, stating that “it does not augur well for the future of the country for these things to be put out.”
Also, at the two latest consecutive house sittings, top winners from different categories in the 2K23 competition were present in parliament and were duly recognized for their respective performances. These included the Soca Monarchs, Steel Pan Champions, Junior Kaiso Monarch and King of the Bands among others.
Meanwhile, at a media briefing, Wednesday, the Carnival Planning & Management Committee [CPMC] released the final results of winners for this year’s festivities.
Interestingly, the Road March Title winner – Imran Nerdy with his tune Clock Out (36 points) out-scored his closest contender Ezra Da FunMachine (35 points), by one point into second place with the selection Hello Carnival.
Shemmy J (27pts.) came in third with Miss Crippy; while former Road March winner Ricky T (10pts.) with Kay Ou and Mighty (10pts.) tied for 4th place.
In the Parade of the Bands segment; the Tribe of Twel Band made a clean sweep to cop all four spots contested. Jordan Augier was the winner with his portrayal of For God So Loved The World; while Kim Desir depicting Anba Glo got second place, with Sharon Tanner coming in third with Palm Sunday Redemption and Craig Hyacinth in fourth place with Papa Djab Seducing the Nation.
Tribe of Twel’s choreography was well presented on stage, as band leader Adrian Augier provided a vivid description of the costume presentations. And notably, fitted in the mix of revelers were veteran calypsonians such as, Papa Vader, Ashanti, Lady Leen and Lord Help Me.
Ashanti also played a role in Tuesday’s last lap ‘Jump-up’ as he belted out some of his tunes on the road to pulsating music.
For the Band of the Year title; Tribe of Twel was again in the winners’ role to capture 1st place with their portrayal of For God So Loved The World (433 pts.), while Just 4 Fun with the largest contingent of at least 800 revelers were runners up with Into the Beyond (397pts.), followed by Xuvo Carnival with Down the Rabbit Hole (387pts.) and Fuzion Mas with Fuzion FM (362pts.).
Not to be left out of the festivities, the Ole Mas contenders served up some witty and provocative displays.
Julian Calderon took 1st place with Mr. PM You Killing the Corn Tree (295pts.) ‘followed by Cuthbert “Trois Tee Nee” Modest with Julien Alfred Breaking Records (290pts.), Robert Calderon with Three Golds For Three Little Nose (259pts.) and Carlton Ishmael with Criminals Have More Arms Than The Police (251pts.).