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.
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