She told a news conference the Mash Day Saturday observances for the 32nd anniversary of the Republic were also incident-free although there was a significant increase in the number of people who participated this year.

She noted there were no police reports of any activity that was harmful to people who were on the road during the Mashramani celebrations.

The Mash Day escape by five prisoners from the Georgetown Prison in which a Prison Officer was killed and another shot in the head was unrelated to Mashramani, she said.

Teixeira, at the Wednesday briefing, pointed out too that the day of celebrations was accident free, although people participated in a variety of ways. The minister said she was delighted that people, after celebrating on that day went home safely without any significant incident that warranted reporting.

The crowds, she noted, were well behaved and attributed that to the work of the Police Force which monitored Mash Day activities, and people themselves who thought they should be responsible enough.

However, crowd control is one area the ministry intends to address for upcoming Mash activities, based on the increasing number of participants over the years, she said.

According to the Culture Minister, the behaviour of people was commendable compared to the level of violence reported during Carnival activities in other countries. Mashramani was peaceful and successful and the ministry is pleased with the response of those who participated in the float parades, she said, noting that much attention was placed on designs and costumes this year.

"Although people talked about how scantily they were going to dress, I was quite surprised to see how covered people were in the floats. There were, of course, exceptions but I think this year there was greater attention to the details of the costumes and the floats and not too much sporting of skin", Teixeira said.

BAND OF THE YEAR

In results announced Tuesday, the Rayon House of Fashion float won the 'Band of the Year' title. Western Union was the runner-up.

Mr. Prince Wills of Rayon House was named `Designer of the Year' while Mr. Grant and C. Oree were the runners-up.

In the 'Best Regional Band' category, Region Three (West Demerara /Essequibo Islands) emerged the winner. The band scored five points each in the Full Costume, Medium, Individual King, Queen, and Non Commercial Floats. The runner-up was Region Five (Mahaica /Berbice).

Western Union won in the Full Costume Band category with Rayon House of Fashion judged runner-up.

In the Medium Band category, the Ministry of Health secured the top position while in the Small Band category Schuler & Gomes Optical came in first.

In the Semi Costume Band segment, where large, medium and small bands competed, Guyana Stores, Guyana Publications Inc., and Region One (Barima/Waini), respectively, copped the top positions.

Individual costumes were also judged during the parade. For the King Costume, the Ministry of Health got first place with Rayon House of Fashion the runner-up. Rayon House, however, won in the Individual Male category while Western Union was the runner up.

In Non Commercial Floats, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports emerged winner.

For Commercial Floats, Rayon House of Fashion won the contest while in the Animal Drawn category Guyana Publications Inc., and The House of Haile Selassie, the only two entries, came in first and second, respectively.

Five masquerade bands also contested during Mashramani celebrations.

'Fire in the Land' piped their tunes to the top and the 'Cabaca' was the runner-up. Other masquerade bands were 'The Torch', 'The Joker is Wild', and 'Strange Cargo', which brought third, fourth and fifth positions, respectively.

There will be a prize giving ceremony on March 8, at the Umana Yana in Kingston, Georgetown.

Teixeira noted that some agencies went an extra mile to present their floats and there has been an increase in the number of smaller agencies that participated this time, such as the National Cosmetologist and Barbers Association, Lifeline - a non governmental organisation, as well as Habitat for Humanity, among others.

The Mash Committee during next week would be doing a wrap-up to examine the strengths and weaknesses which will help the Secretariat determine in what areas the activities could be improved next year, she said.