IN terms of security and safety, there has been "no Carnival like this before", claimed National Security Minister Jack Warner.

"From all reports it will seem that the security and safety of the country during the Carnival period seems to be something that was unsurpassed, unparalleled in terms of its implementation," Warner said yesterday.

Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams, however, did not go as far as labelling this year the safest Carnival.

He is leaving that judgment up to the public.

"I am not the one to say this Carnival was the safest in how many years, I am not pronouncing on that. Public perception would have been pronounced," Williams said.

Warner and Williams joined Chief of Defence Staff Major General Kenrick Maharaj and Carnival Gold Commander Deputy Police Commissioner Raymond Craig in a post-Carnival security briefing yesterday at the National Security Ministry's headquarters, Temple Court, Abercromby Street.

Craig said the festivities were marred only by a fatal stabbing that took place near George V Park, St Clair around 10 p.m. on Carnival Tuesday.

"Except for 10 p.m. (Tuesday night) when there was an unfortunate incident that was Carnival-related, by and large the events before Carnival and during Carnival passed out almost totally incident free," Warner said.

He said the crackdown on crime for Carnival did not happen by luck and chance.

"What happened over the last three, four days did not happen by accident, it was based on deliberate planning, it was based on the kind of strategies which the police and the army had carried out and, most importantly, it was based also to a large extent on the cooperation of the people to work with the law officers."

Warner said if this collaboration continued the country can expect a transformation in terms of crime.

"If we have this kind of effort on a continued scale, on a wider scale, I am quite sure that all of us in the end shall have this country transformed to what we want it to be."

Maharaj said this was a "really successful and safe Carnival".

"We must thank the citizens because based on my own observations people were well behaved. Although many people came to fog up the place and some people came with water and powder and so on, in fact, people were very well controlled and mannered."

Craig said plans would be put in place in time for next year's Carnival to ban glass bottles in an effort to further prevent stabbing incidents.

He said stabbing incidents were decreased this year after a measure was put in place to prevent music boxes in bars.

"No music boxes were allowed in the bars. In the past what would have happened is you would have had DJs setting up their apparatus, loud music, and then it would go to 4,000 to 5,000 people in small areas that was difficult to police, particularly as darkness fell, and there would have been a lot of stabbings and that would have contributed significantly to a reduction in the number of stabbings that we had this year as against last year and unruly behaviour," Craig said.

However, comparative statistics were not available yesterday.