The show must and will go ahead as planned and come July 5, H2O Soca is on.
This as ANN has confirmed that the Physical Planning Board has granted full approval for the event to take place.
The staging of the show looked in jeopardy with some residents in the area made it known that they were against the promoter’s decision to host the event in Penniston.
Some residents penned a letter to the media indicating their opposition stating that the event was being staged too close to the Penniston Cemetery.
Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves also said that he had received a petition letter signed by residents opposing the event.
According to Gonsalves while speaking on radio on July 19, the matter had reached to the level of the Physical Planning Board, who would be the entity with the final say in the matter.
However, Luke Boyea, businessman and promoter of the event responded telling ANN that an application had been submitted for the use of the 10-acre premises from as early as January 2024 and that he and his team complied with the request made by the planning board to host a consultation with residents.
And according to Boyea, no one present at the meeting raised any objection to the use of the site and no reference made to residents having an issue of the proximity of the cemetery to the event.
An ‘approval in principle’ was subsequently granted, Boyea said and work began to prepare the area for the event which is billed as one of the biggest events on the Vincy Mas calendar of events.