Wining beats swine flu fears in Point
The Swine Flu alert appeared to be the furthest thing from the minds of revellers as they had the time of their lives as the annual Point Fortin Borough Day got underway with Jour Ouvert celebrations today.
Under the watchful eyes of glum policemen who complained, earlier this week, about the lack of precautionary health measures regarding the Swine Flu outbreak, hundreds of masqueraders jumped and swayed to music from DJs along the route as well as other music.
Later in the day, the “Pan On The Move” competition featuring most of the country’s top steelbands will end two weeks of activities to celebrate Point Fortin’s 29th anniversary as a borough.
There were concerns that the large numbers of visitors, mostly former Point Fortin residents, would heighten the Swine Flu in that there was the possibility of someone coming to the borough with the virus.
Usually, flights with visitors are solidly booked from New York, Toronto or Miami.
The Borough Council worked with a smaller budget this year but from reports most of the activities went off successfully, particularly, the most “Charming Man” competition which won by young footballer Matthew Bartholomew.
Point Fortin police told Tntinsider on Saturday morning that the celebrations were progressing peacefully under good weather conditions.