Reporter
leeanna.maharaj@guardian.co.tt
National Carnival Commission chairman Winston “Gypsy” Peters says the fatal shooting in St James and the stabbing death of a teen boxer in Sangre Grande on Tuesday, as well as the incident where a man was crushed by a music truck in San Fernando on Monday, did not mar Carnival celebrations.
Speaking on CNC3’s The Morning Brew yesterday, Peters noted that although the incidents were tragic, they were small in comparison to the larger events.
“I don’t think that it marred anything, I think there were incidents that happened that should not have happened, but anything that you do, we are human beings... and I think that sometimes we forget that anything could go wrong at any time... you cannot say because you had two incidents or three incidents that something has marred anything. We magnify things too much in this place... it is unfortunate but this did not mar anything,” Peters said.
On Tuesday, Irvin Joaquin Mayora was killed and four others injured in St James, forcing an early shutdown of celebrations there. Hours later, Prince Charles, 18, was stabbed to death after he got into an argument with a man during Last Lap celebrations. And on Monday, 74-year-old Selwyn Little was crushed to death by a music truck in San Fernando.
Peters said he considered Little a friend, as they had worked together before and offered his condolences to the family. Asked about regulations to prevent similar occurrences, Peters said these incidents may be unavoidable.
“We will do the best we can to ensure that this doesn’t happen at all, and we would wish that it never happens... but as long as we have human beings interacting with human beings, and with machinery and anything, accidents will happen.”
Peters also commended the TTPS’ work during the season, saying citizens and tourists felt comfortable despite the State of Emergency.
“I think [the SoE] turned out to be a very good thing... if it’s anything, it made everybody feel safer. Everybody had a wonderful time. I was talking to some foreigners from Guyana and Europe, and they told me that they feel so safe in Trinidad and Tobago. They had no experience of anything untoward. As a citizen of T&T, I want to commend the protective services for the service that they have given to Trinidad,” he said.
He added, “I think that the intensification of what has happened over the last couple of months has lent an additional level of protection, and I wish that that level of protection can continue in whatever way that it can happen, because we see the results, and we feel the results, and I want them to keep on doing it.”