On Monday, Chairman of the Junkanoo Corporation of New Providence (JCNP), Dion Miller threatened to cancel the upcoming Junkanoo parades. This came after the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture released a statement on December 8th saying, “acting on the advice of the Attorney General, the Government of The Bahamas accepts that they Way Forward Valley Boys is properly registered and certified to participate in the upcoming Junkanoo Parade.” The JCNP had previously ruled that the Valley Boys: The Way Forward, led by Trevor Davis, would only be allowed to rush in the upcoming parades as a fun group.
Later in the day a statement was released by the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Legal Affairs reminding the JCNP “to exercise caution, as they do not have the authority to postpone or cancel Junkanoo, which is a national event owned by the Bahamian people.”
Miller spoke with ZNS News Monday evening after the postponement of a scheduled press conference on the matter. He said, “we postponed the press conference tonight to allow more time for groups to develop alternative as to the way forward as it relates to the planning of the parades. We had a full, packed house tonight. It was a united front. It was an exciting atmosphere, groups are committed to carrying out what we said that we would do. Its very important for the public to understand that is not the intention of Junkanoo groups to scare you that there will be no Junkanoo this Christmas. However, the JCNP was formulated to ensure that groups are represented and that we carry out our mandate which is to produce and manage these Junkanoo parades. Until such time we are in a position that we are comfortable with our agreement with the government, all things considered, right now we’re more than likely leaning towards a cancelation of the parades, not to say the parades itself will be canceled but certainly our participation from the parades.”
The JCNP Chairman said plans are being formulated to provide refunds for persons who purchased tickets. He also did not have a date for when the JCNP intends to meet with members of the media.
Miller appealed for patience from the members of the public. He said, “this is a process. The JCNP wants to ensure that we are able to govern and make determination and to do what we do in regards to our parades in an effective way without any baggage over our head or interference. And so once we’re in a position were there is a comfort level and we are assured that we can proceed, we will proceed. If an agreement can be made and then some alternative will be communicated to the public.”
Valley Boys: The Way Forward was not represented at the meeting held by the JCNP.
