Festival Queen judging lacks transparency

THE EDITOR, Sir: I WRITE this piece based on the Letter of the Day scripted by Andrea Black and titled ‘Outrageous decision in Miss St Thomas Festival Queen event’, published in The Gleaner on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. As a citizen born and bred in the parish of St Thomas, I, too, am concerned about the outcome of the event.

I am a supporter of civic functions, so despite the inclement weather condition, I made my way to the venue, paid $1,000 at the gate, and assumed a comfortable seat somewhere in the middle of the audience. I was looking forward to a wonderful event.

ASTONISHING AWARDS

I was astonished when the sectional prizes were awarded, particularly the one for Most Involved in the Community, because I personally know one of the contestants who is an administrator at the National Youth Service office in Morant Bay and is very involved in community affairs, especially as it relates to youth.

I am led to believe that this competition lacks transparency. I question whether proper research was done on all the contestants before a decision was made.

I am seconding the call on the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission to make the profiles of the eight beautiful young ladies available to the public so as to preserve the integrity of the competition and the image of the parish. TONIA-ANN LEWIS toniannlewis84@gmail.com