Opposition MP Hans Des Vignes is demanding accountability from government over what he described as chaos and mismanagement of Carnival 2026.
Speaking at a media briefing on Thursday, Des Vignes raised concerns over the muted audio incident during the Dimanche Gras show during the performance by defending champion Helon Francis.
State broadcaster TTT blamed on a failure of the Dante system, but Des Vignes challenged their explanation.
“These things are on logs—everybody knows that—you can export the log and the report and what happened during any particular time period. Why would TTT issue a statement and not include the log for transparency,” he said.
“It was a strange coincidence that the system failure only seemed to have a voice when the lyrics were critical of the State. When taxpayers’ dollars fund the broadcast, the taxpayer deserves to hear the message.”
Des Vignes also called for justice for Helon Francis through an un-doctored system log.
The Opposition MP also questioned the reported $137 million spent on Carnival, calling for full transparency on contracts.
“Why two separate villages? What was the cost for entertainment? How many times did they hire the artist that sat around the table eating pizza with the Minister of Agriculture? And what cost?” Des Vignes asked.
“What was the cost for flooring in these villages? Why did they discontinue hiring professional presenters, only to hire campaign managers and people who did not make the Calypso Monarch finals, who campaigned with them?” he added.
