Local Government Minister Chandresh Sharma said yesterday that he was not consulted on the decision to ban all bottles in the city of Port of Spain for Carnival.

In a text message to the Express when asked for comment, Sharma said it was all public relations "and the mayor is not thinking".

Two of the country's foremost alcoholic beverage producers however say that they will not be affected by the Port of Spain City Council's ban on glass bottles in the city.

Senior Manager for Communications at Angostura, Giselle Laronde-West, said yesterday via telephone that when the company provides drinks on the road or during Carnival fetes only plastic cups were used.

She added that while she could not speak for consumers who bring glass bottles (of Angostura products) into the city, there were spirits that were alternatively bottled in plastic instead of glass.

Carib Brewery issued a statement yesterday saying that the company will encourage customers to comply within the parameters of the resolution enacted by the Council and await further clarification from the mayor's office.

Port of Spain mayor Louis Lee Sing has announced that revellers should treat Carnival celebrations in the city as "one big cooler fete" and not bring glass bottles. He warned revellers and spectators that they could be fined as much as $1,000 or jailed for up to three months if found consuming drinks in glass bottles during celebrations.

Lee Sing said that the council had had meetings with the requisite stakeholders in the glass beverage industry and "it was already decided that there would be no glass bottles in the city on Carnival Monday and Tuesday".

Former Port of Spain mayor Murchison Brown said in a telephone interview yesterday that this was the first time he could remember such a decision taking place, but it was well within the right of the council to take this decision.