Skip to playerSkip to main content
CCNTV6
  • 4 months ago
President of the Trinbago Unified Calypsonians' Organisation Ainsley King is confirming that the payout outlined by the group of concerned Calypsonians did in fact occur.
However, he says it has nothing to do with compensation for not entering the TUCO competition, which is a policy he attributes to past TUCO Presidents.
Alicia Boucher has more in this report.
Transcript
00:00There was in fact a $350,000 reimbursement for the president of the Trinbago Unified
00:06Calypso Unions Association, Ainsley King, the reason for which he is seeking to clarify.
00:11It was as a result of me being in Trinidad, not from Trinidad, and had to have a rent to pay.
00:22And that went on for a while. So it was that, plus it had other expenses that would have incurred,
00:32and that was to cover other stuff. Because like, for example, the office,
00:38I actually had some money went into that because we had no money.
00:42As for the $100,000 payout to him, the vice president, general secretary and treasurer,
00:48and the $60,000 to the assistant treasurer, King confirms that too. But he is refuting claims
00:54that it was done as compensation to those two co-officials for not entering the national
01:00Calypso competition. We continue to compensate people for what they do. And that will be different
01:10work that people would have done over the carnival period. TV6 News inquired as to the specific works
01:17that his compensation related to.
01:19I actually did the logistic coordinating for Skinnapper. I also was responsible for most
01:27of the directing, the planning and all that for the season. All right. So those are work
01:35that I have actually done. I've actually shared certain committees. And basically, that would
01:46have equate to the monies that I would have received. He tells us the remuneration amount
01:54is something decided upon by Tuco's general counsel. However, he reveals that compensation
02:00for not entering national competitions is a usual practice by Tuco based on a policy he says has
02:07been in place for years used by past presidents.
02:11Like from protector, pink planter, murder resistance.
02:16Yes, way before your time.
02:18Way before my time. And not only that, there is a, you see, they're looking at that. But
02:23the marketing manager, he pulls in a lot of money because there's this policy that we met
02:31there too. So the marketing man is basically the highest paid man. And I'm surprised that
02:37nobody's speaking about that. Nonetheless, King claims that his executive team has not
02:42been using the policy, which he believes came about as a result of the executive having to
02:47deal closely with the competition, including the judging, which could give the appearance
02:52of bias should they compete. The Tuco head tells us several changes are being made, including
02:57putting a stop to people working well above the retirement age into their 70s and addressing
03:03other ills such as nepotism in the organization. Added to that, he says, Tuco's elections are
03:09to be held next year. He's of the view that a matter raised by the group of Calypsonians
03:14is to frame a narrative and throw him and by extension, Tuco in a bad light.
03:20Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
Be the first to comment
Add your comment