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Eh heh...I got the twitter this morning and had to run and read...

Masqueraders who have grown accustomed to the convenience of "wee-wee trucks" will now have to rely on-or find-alternative accommodation for Carnival 2010.

The Port of Spain Corporation has given notice of two big changes for next year's Parade of the Bands-the first being that truck-borne portable toilets will no longer be allowed along the route and the other, that food provided by bands for masqueraders must be consumed within four hours of preparation.

The food must also be stored at specific temperatures-four degrees Celsius and under for cold and 40 degrees Celsius and over for hot-and this could affect the bands' abilities to provide the full all-inclusive fare that has become the norm.

The notice, which was sent two weeks ago to vice president of the National Carnival Bandleaders Association (NCBA), David Lopez, has been ill-received by several band leaders.

A lack of consultation with them emerged as a pet peeve and the NCBA's handling of the matter was regarded as "irresponsible" by Peter Reynald, secretary of the National Carnival Development Foundation (NCDF).

"I am surprised with the irresponsibility of the NCBA," Reynald said yesterday.

"There has been no meeting with bandleaders on this. Many bands have launched already and-the NCBA knows this-they would already have contractual obligations with caterers and so on. I am not against the public vendors but the corporation must treat fairly with everyone, they cannot just sweep through the bands with this."

Reynald said that although the bands, who provide an all inclusive package, have a schedule for providing food through the day, keeping to the new specifications can be difficult with traffic, the pace of the parade and the time taken by masqueraders to access the food.

He also expressed little faith in the corporation's ability to provide adequate toilet facilities.

"They have been failing to get that right years," Reynald said.

The rules being enforced by the Corporation are not new and are in keeping with the Public Health Ordinance, which was cited in the letter.

On "wee-wee trucks", the notice stated:

"Public Health Ordinance Chapter 12 No. 4 Section 70 (1) (b), specifies that 'any privy so foul or in such a state or so situated as to be a nuisance or injurious to health'...

"The present system employed by some bandleaders poses a health hazard and as such the practice of 'wee-wee trucks' should be discontinued. The alternatives for accommodation for masqueraders on Carnival days are the use of sites, to be determined by the Association in collaboration with the Local Health Authority (PoS Corporation), where 'portable toilets' can be situated."

Attached to the letter was the Health Ordinance provision for the sale of food, on which the Corporation stated:

"The system now being used in 'all-inclusive' bands where food is provided for masqueraders needs to be monitored to ensure compliance with all Public Health Regulations."

Speaking to the Express yesterday, a representative of Island People, one of the country's largest bands, said the newly enforced regulations regarding the collection of waste could negatively impact on the band's security policies for 2010.

Female masqueraders are considered particularly vulnerable and were the main reason that "wee-wee trucks" were created. Having to leave the band to use another facility, or to locate a private place on a public street, leaves these band members open to a number of dangers.

"Our new focus on 2010 is high security for band members," the Island People spokesperson said, adding that the band has no issue with regulations but wants to ensure proper alternatives.

"So we hope that the Port of Spain Corporation provides safe, well-lit and well-managed facilities along the route, otherwise, we would have to seek out alternatives.

"As for food, we have a distribution schedule where the service providers delivers throughout the day, so there is no food sitting from morning and being eaten in the evening. It may, however, be difficult to monitor exactly when food was prepared to stay strictly within the four-hour stipulation."

The head of another leading band welcomed the moves by the corporation.

"To be riding through the streets with urine and faeces for two days was an unhealthy practice and what would happen is that the bands behind these 'wee-wee' trucks would have to endure the stench," he said.

However, the Island People representative sought to clear up the notion that two days worth of waste was being transported in the trucks.

"No, no. There were clean-ups along the way and mostly, the trucks would actually be replaced for the next day," he said.

Stating that "the law is the law", the NCBA's David Lopez said his group expects to meet with the Port of Spain Corporation in the near future.

"This has always been the law," Lopez said.

"In the coming weeks, there will be notices from other bodies as well-such as licensing and the police and so on-and we expect to be having some meetings with the corporation soon."

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y would they wait so long to announce that?? people who already put down money for the all inclusive should be pissed. I can't imagine playing mas then have to hunt around for a place to pee. Alcohol makes u pee plenty and when i played, every 30 or so minutes i had to pee. They supposed to make that announcement since early in the year not 4 months before carnival....steupps.

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What difference it woulda make really? People would not play all inclusive because they no longer have a mobile piss pot following them on the street? They should refund masqueraders $45 for no truck now then.



POS is going to be STINK!!!

now self de whole ah POS going to smell like ah piss pot. because ppl are going to piss all over the streets. these ppl don't think or wha? just mandate that they have their porta potties cleaned out carnival monday night, if not fine the band.

I sure dem wee wee trucks does be WAY cleaner than them shits dey does have sit down there in town. Which worker does be dey all the time cleanin up stuff as regular as the bands have theirs cleaned?

That's all they have to do. But dem too smart to think of that!!

I see them reneging the next year cause de place too stink come Ash Wednesday!!

I know for sure dem Tribe trucks way cleaner than any portopotty. I doh do portopotty atall. Dem one on de trucks does flush and all. Not to mention it have an attendant there to hold my belt so I not pissing on meh beads and then there is soap, water and sanitizer to wash hands.

Not to mention...how much masqueraders gonna lose dey band looking fuh pee spots. Oui. Yuh see how thing does spoil people? I remember the days of pissing in de road...but like they forget they fining people now fuh pissing in de road. Wait...nah...dey remember! I think we just figured it out!

yep they would.

+1
good thing I hardly drink on the road...

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de ORIGINAL ...

Funny thing is on teh road I doh really have to use those things so much... and normally at home i always sprinting to the bathroom.. lol

I'm all about public and environmental safety.

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(too funny) :

well i hope u can hold u pee good.. lol.. who knows what these smart people going to set up. One area downtown one uptown....lol...

bands better come together and have maintained wee wee areas along the route!!!

yes. Those portopotty's were clean! well with evolution and d'krewe. Everything you would need in a restroom on the road. We never ran out of toilet paper, soap and water to wash our hands. I hope they rethink this....

__________________
~~When your character is built on spiritual and moral foundations, your contagious way of life will influence millions.~~

allyuh worried bout piss..........rell people does be shitting in dem ting.........like dey eh know use d toilet home b4 dey hit d road.........

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I encourage all masqueraders to go piss on the steps and or the gate of Manning's new mansion.

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-Meh Granny say so.

some ppl have loose belly. dont you know alcohol loosen your bowel movement and give you run belly? lol