The group, which comprises ardent Junkanooer Paul Adderley, Dr. Hervis Bain and accountant Ishmael Lightbourne; would be provided with the judges’ score sheets this week to complete its investigation in time for February’s annual junkanoo awards reception.
The three propositions are:
* all groups agree with the composition of the committee,
* that they agree to abide by whatever decision the majority of the committee makes and,
* the terms of reference being that the committee will make a determination and not a recommendation.
This investigation comes after a cloud of “distrust” developed around the National Junkanoo Committee (NJC) and this year’s New Year’s Day parade results.
Initially, the Valley Boys were awarded first place, but several days later, rivals Shell Saxons Superstars were hailed the official winners. The decision was met with much criticism from the public and protests from the groups, resulting in the independent probe.
Co-chairman of the NJC Bill Wallace explained, “The review committee noted that for the Saxons there were discrepancies in the number of persons in cloth, which ranged from a high of 100 to a low of eight. On the penalty form itself, the penalty marshals were in agreement that the range of 100 to eight was not satisfactory.”
As a result, points were deducted from each group, including a 240-point from the Saxons, giving them the New Year’s Day Junkanoo parade crown.
According to a reliable source, after the final tallying, several amendments were made to the score sheets. If true, it would be contrary to the NJC rules, which state that once a judge has signed a score sheet, further adjustments are prohibited.
Upon returning from a trip to the United States last week, Minister Wisdom agreed to the proposal. And, according to Mr. Adderley, in a letter signed by permanent secretary Harrison Thompson, the major groups on Friday also agreed to the proposals.
“They have looked at the propositions and have agreed. The group leaders agreed to the first two and the ministry and the NJC have agreed to the third one,” said Mr. Adderley.
The independent body expects to receive the judges score sheets sometime this week. Once this happens, Mr. Adderley said the investigation should be completed in less than a month.
In a recent interview, he said, “The scores made by the judges, we can’t tamper with that. We leave that to the mathematical judges. We would have to use our discretion with that. You say you tallied 15 points, I say 20. We can’t change that.”
Penalties, Mr. Adderley said, are a different matter, “but that should not take us too long to work out.”
Asked whether the NJC rules would play a role in their decision, Mr. Adderley said, “Yes, we’ve seen some of the rules that they have. Now, whether they complied and [came] clean to us then, I do not know.”
“You can’t change what the judges have done or the rules; you can’t change them, but whether they may have created a difficulty I really don’t know. I haven’t seen anything yet, but obviously that has got to be so,” said Mr. Adderley.
Some major group leaders have predicted a “massive storm” at the Junkanoo awards reception, at which the winner of the parades would be presented with prizes.
Although an official date has not been announced, one group leader predicted, “Fellows gonna be fighting in there if they don’t clear this matter up.”
By Khashan Poitier, The Nassau Guardian
