A
alexk
Guest
Winston “Gypsy” Peters, the new chairman of the National Carnival Commission (NCC), does not believe his appointment has anything to do with his support for the People’s National Movement (PNM) in the 2015 general election.
“I made absolutely no deal with anybody,” he insisted. “This is three years later. Since then they hired a different chairman, but they found it fit to hire me now. Trinidad and Tobago needs to devoid itself of political nuances in everything we do.”
Peters said it was Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley who called and offered him the job as NCC chairman after Colin Lucas, who had held the position for the past few months, resigned to take up an appointment as Chief Executive Officer of the organisation.
He said he asked Dr Rowley for time to think about it and after speaking with his wife and others to get varied opinions, he accepted.
Since his appointment Peters said he had been getting calls from people on all sides of the political divide.
“I am a peoples’ person. I am Gypsy. I belong to the people,” he said.
However, the former United National Congress (UNC) government minister said he has not had a call from that party’s political leader and does not know if he will again throw his support behind the opposition party.
He said: “A day in politics is a long time. You can’t say what you going to do from day to day in terms of politics because anything could happen in politics.”
He said when he relinquished his US citizenship it was because he wanted to serve T&T and as NCC chairman he plans to do so to the best of his ability.
“I cannot make any prediction about what I am going to do,” he said. “I have to go in there and see what exists and what I think should be there.”
Noting that the NCC manages Carnival, the only aspect of T&T culture that “knows no race, religion culture or creed,” Peters said he knows many of the players in the cultural arena and is confident he can work with them.
He said he looks forward to working with the board and the acting CEO in the best interests of Carnival.