NCF
DEADLINE

by RICKY JORDAN

THE NATIONAL CULTURAL FOUNDATION (NCF) has until the end of today to respond to letters from an attorney about the leak of the 18 Pic-O-De-Crop semi-finalists.

If it doesn't answer, a court injunction could be brought against the West Terrace, St James institution.

Attorney Douglas Trotman wrote two letters yesterday - one to the arbiter and the other to the chief executive officer - complaining that the leak of the 18 to the public before they were announced at 1:30 a.m. Saturday, constituted a breach of contract between Tornadoes tent and the NCF, and that the foundation had been negligent in securing the results of the judging process.

Trotman has given the NCF 24 hours to respond.

"The integrity of the entire competition is in question," he said.

"I have written to the NCF outlining what I consider to be the issues, which are contractual, as well as issues of negligence.

"Once there has been a breach, you do not know the nature of that breach. In other words, the person who leaked the information could have changed the scores . . . these are the kinds of things that can happen when there's a breach."

Trotman told the DAILY NATION he had written the arbiter based on the February 2009 revised Pic-O-De-Crop rules, and had followed Rule 4 (C) which states that "all complaints related to the competition should be submitted in writing to the arbiter"; while his letter to the CEO followed Rule 1 (A) related to disputed matters "requiring clarification arising from matters relating to the calypso tents participating in the competition and/or the contractual arrangements between the tents and the NCF".

Trotman, representing Tornadoes tent - the last tent judged Friday night before the results were announced - said he would prefer the matter to be settled out of court.

"There's provision for arbitration in the rules and, essentially, following the new direction of the court, alternate dispute resolution (ADR) would be a preferred option, rather than a contentious approach," said Trotman, who has in the past represented the United Artistes of Barbados.

NCF board chairman Ken Knight said on Saturday that he had heard allegations of a leak of the 18 semi-finalists and had requested that CEO, Dr. Hunte-Cox fully investigate the matter.

Several people in calypso circles said they had heard the names in the exact order, days before they were announced.

Queen's Counsel Ralph Thorne said on Sunday that a judicial review and/or immediate injunction could be sought by aggrieved tents, which could force the NCF to subject them to a fair judging; or the court could decide not to grant an injunction if the aggrieved parties were adequately compensated via damages.