For many it was smooth sailing, but a few delegations attending the Carifesta VIII in Suriname were plagued by logistical and other problems.

One such contingent affected was Cuba, which arrived on Tuesday only to realise that their instruments had not arrived on the flight. According to one of the chaperones for that country, without the musical instruments, the Spanish-speaking participants would be unable to perform.

It was unclear whether their luggage had finally arrived, but yesterday, Chas Warning, Public Relations and Marketing officer for the National Carifesta VIII Committee, told Stabroek News that he was unaware of any glitches that Cuba might have had.

Other minor problems include the overcrowding of some hotels, the splitting up of delegations at various accommodations, stale breakfasts at one hotel and the plumbing system backing up at another.

Stabroek News understands that at one hotel, some members of one country’s contingent are “bunking” in the conference room, where they have placed mattresses on the floor.

At the same hotel, one source reported that because of the crowded environment, the plumbing was backing up and the pool was always dirty. Another person complained of their country’s delegation having to eat stale chowmein for breakfast. While, yet another contingent found itself divided at three separate accommodations.

“They are totally disorganised. They are changing schedules like crazy,” was the complaint of another head of a delegation. However, the majority of delegations reported that, “they are treating us good”.

On Sunday, another member of the National Carifesta VIII Committee had told this newspaper that the changes in the programme were as a result of the last minute inclusions of some countries.

Despite the few glitches, the committee is confident that it has pulled off a successful festival so far. Stabroek News was forewarned that there would be some problems, given the scale of the project.

One shortcoming, this newspaper noticed though, was the initial lack of accurate, daily programmes for activities. Prior to Wednesday, organisers were distributing a compiled programme for the weekly activities, but there were still uncertainties among the various delegations, including Guyana, as to when and where they were performing.

But Warning said that they were “satisfied because we knew that this task is not a light one. Up to now, we are not confronting any big problems.”