Bowleg: Funds will be provided pending conflict resolution

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS 

Tribune Staff Reporter 

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

YOUTH, Sports, and Culture Minister Mario Bowleg said seed funding for the Valley Boys has been delayed pending a Sunday meeting to resolve a conflict that has embroiled the group.

Officials announced yesterday that seed funding has been distributed to other Junkanoo groups for the upcoming Boxing Day and New Year’s Day parades. A-Division Junkanoo groups received $30,000, while B-Division Junkanoo groups received $15,000. Twenty-four D-Division groups got an undisclosed amount.

Mr Bowleg said after seeking advice from Attorney General Ryan Pinder, he arranged a meeting with the Junkanoo Corporation of New Providence (JCNP), the National Junkanoo Committee (NJC), and several key stakeholders, including two representatives from each faction of the Valley Boys.

“We hope for a peaceful resolution and that the groups will eventually come together,” he said. “The Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, the government, the NJC, and the JCNP are not obligated to make decisions on behalf of anyone else.”

Mr Bowleg said one faction of the Valley Boys will receive funding after Sunday’s meetings. Although JCNP chairman Dion Miller previously said the faction led by Brian Adderley would get the money, Mr Bowleg said the JCNP has decided to stay out of the fight and see if the two factions would unite.

The faction led by Trevor Davis released a statement on social media expressing confidence that it will participate in the parades, saying: “We are in good standing because the laws of The Bahamas are on our side, so let’s remain steadfast in our preparations for Boxing Day and New Year’s Day!”

Mr Davis registered his group as a non-profit organisation before Mr Adderley did the same for his faction. The Office of the Registrar General reportedly sent Mr Adderley’s group a letter demanding it drop the Valley Boys name from its title.

“I can’t be concerned with critics,” Mr Bowleg said yesterday. “A decision has to be made. A decision will be made, and whatever decision is made might not be favoured by some people. You can’t spend life trying to please everybody. But I tell you, as the minister, I am going to make a decision. At the end of the day, I will try to bring the individuals together to iron out the differences and see if we can come together. Life is about coming together as one, being united — that’s what life is all about.”

Mr Adderley declined to comment on the matter yesterday.