By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

THIRTY-SEVEN per cent of Junkanoo parade seats are reserved for certain people, with many seats located in prime positions in Rawson Square and in the front of Scotiabank.

This, ALIV chief information officer Dwayne Davis suggested yesterday, could explain why many struggled to get tickets yesterday after Boxing Day and New Year’s Day tickets went on sale at noon.

Frustrated residents complained about technical challenges with the ALIV Events app.

Some said many seats were not available for purchase. Others said it was difficult to see which seats were taken, describing the process as tedious.

During a press conference, Mr Davis said 37 per cent of seats are reserved for government partners, groups and sponsors.

“Sadly, everybody wants to sit in Rawson Square, and everybody wants to sit in front of Scotiabank,” he said. “Where did most of that 37 per cent come from? In Rawson Square and Scotiabank.

“Those areas are sold out but there are other areas on Bay Street that are available for purchase. So it’s no conspiracy. No, we did not take all the tickets out before they went on sale.”

 The launch of the app last year was seen as an opportunity to modernize ticket purchasing for the Junkanoo parades. People can also buy tickets ALIV Cable Beach and Habour Bay stores.

 Junkanoo Corporation of New Providence (JCNP) chairman Dion Miller said an estimated 8100 seats were available. Officials said within the first hour of yesterday’s launch prime sections were sold out.

 Mr Davis acknowledged technical challenges.

 “We had an issue with payments this morning,” he said. “Because we had so many transactions trying to process at the same time, it was rejecting a token, probably looking as fraud.”

 “Another issue that we have is a mandate by the government and if I’m speaking out of turn, minister, let me know. It was mandated that persons are allowed to purchase tickets in cash as well as in the app, so you will have situations where persons were either at Harbour Bay or Cable Beach purchasing a ticket with cash, and you try and purchase the same ticket via the app.”

 Fifty per cent of the tickets were reportedly sold up to yesterday afternoon.