Saboteurs visit Jam Jam’s after Carnival King and Queen Competition
The Carnival King and Queen Competition was held on Saturday night and we’ll bring you all the action on Tuesday. But even with that aspect of the judging out the way, the bands still have a lot of preparation before the road march on September eleventh. The Jam Jam Mas Band worked until about two o’clock this morning at their camp on Pickstock Street. Soon after they turned in, someone destroyed the band’s king and queen costumes. The band members were disheartened to see weeks of work and thousands of dollars in costumes torn apart, especially since sponsorship was lacking this year. News Five’s Delahnie Bain was called to view the damage and she spoke to the Band Leader, who says they’re down but not out.
Delahnie Bain, Reporting
At Saturday night’s Carnival King and Queen Competition, Jam Jam Mas Band proudly presented Queen Akasha, Queen Magenta and King Arthur. The group was well on its way to Saturday’s carnival road march, until this morning, when they became victims of sabotage.
Alma Gabourel, Leader, Jam Jam Mas Band
Alma Gabourel
“I found the costumes totally slashed, one of the costumes they tried to set on fire, they took all the feathers and they broke them in half so we couldn’t even try to repair the costumes. What they couldn’t slash they tore up.”
Band leader, Alma Gabourel estimates the cost of the damage at over four thousand and says she is at a loss as to why they would be targeted.
Alma Gabourel
“I don’t know. We don’t have any problem we mostly keep to ourselves. We don’t affiliate with any other band beside Mother Nature cause she’s my friend. So I don’t know who would want to do this.”
Delahnie Bain
“How did you all do in the King and Queen Competition?”
Alma Gabourel
“We place second for queen and third for king. So that’s what we did in the competition.”
Delahnie Bain
“You think maybe it has something to do with that? Maybe some other band…”
Alma Gabourel
“That’s what I would say. Someone is trying to sabotage our costume for the road march.”
But Jam Jam is not throwing in the towel just yet. Gabourel says they will do their best to have the costumes repaired in time for carnival.
Alma Gabourel
“I would just like to ask—we would like to repair our costumes and if anyone would like to help, they could even give us the material like cloth and braiding because we have feathers. So we can put new feathers but I would just like someone to help us with the cloth and the braiding and we will repair them for Saturday if we can.”
Delahnie Bain
“And how much work will it take to bring these back?”
Alma Gabourel
“I don’t know. It took us three weeks to get these ready. Three weeks of hard work and it was really heartbreaking to see this.”
Delahnie Bain
“At this point, do you think that you’ll make it for carnival?”
Alma Gabourel
“Well, everything—our masqueraders’ costumes are ready but you can’t go out there without the king and the queen. We will lose. The rest of the band is not taking it too well. Everyone is heartbroken, especially the queen who came in second, Stacy Hemmans. She’s taking it hard because it’s her hard working money she took and paid for her costume.”
Stacy Hemmans was Queen Akasha and her costume alone costs over two thousand dollars. Delahnie Bain for News Five.
Jam Jam will be having a fundraising drive on Albert Street on Tuesday, starting at nine a.m. and on Friday they will be having a barbecue at their camp on Pickstock Street. If you want to help Jam Jam to make it in time for carnival, Alma Gabourel can be reached at 663-6195; financial and material donations are welcomed.
Once again it shows that the carnival committee has to be replaced. The people in charge don’t know much about carnival except judging for sleck dancing. KINGS AND QUEENS should be the best costumes, hard work and time and dedication. When i saw these costumes online i laugh thinking i was living in the past. 10 years ago we saw way better costumes. This is the main reason why sponsors don’t sponsor. costumes look as if they cost less than 500 bz. not reaching no where near the thousands. The once winning were not to win especially in the senior category. Costumes showed no hard work put into them.Yet 1st place is given and the prize money will prob serve them to bring out the entire band for carnival day. Sad we are not moving up. When C-Jamm, Cultural Heritage and GEM Use to take part that was competition. When Erotic Mas Band were there it was a Great show. \they had no competition but i looked foward to what was next from them. Not now. Seniors look worst then juniors. Come on man raise the BAR. U can’t go anywhere else but Belize city with this. Even Orange Walk is putting off a better show in costumes now.
Custumes not good for this country.
Bad for the children. let that stay in Belize city.
It ain’t all that, but nobody deserves this to happen to them. Time & money was put into those costumes,I hope they can pull together & have them ready by carnival day.
Carnival should be clean fun and look what its become over the years. This sabotage event is truly representative of the belizean mentality…….if I cant do better than you ….i will help destroy you (real creole mentality for real). Our country has a really bad mentality that is why we are the way we are today. Its really SAD! The little children learn what they see from the adults. Some adults in the carnival should learn to respect themselves. Carnival use to be about patriotism, nationality and culture…..none of those costume represent our rich heritage and diverse culture. They look like something copied from Trinidad or somewhere else…….that is not BELIZE. The stories told are not Belizean either. There should be laws and rules in carnival as well, particularly in the area of dressing. Some of these adults, i am certain, are not aware of how sleck they look and of the fact that people are laughing after them. I can’t change people’s mentality about carnival but i suggest that the judges and the committee try to reshape the whole aspect of what carnival in Belize is really about. Is it about the children or the adults behaving lawlessly on the streets?