Culture Minister Lincoln Douglas was blanked at Cabinet on Thursday after he attempted to secure a further $43 million from Government for Carnival. The request for additonal funding came even as the sum of $314 million has already been allocated for Carnival 2015 in the 2014 budget, and even as the country is facing a steep dip in the oil price beneath the initial budgeted figure and ministries are required to tighten their collective belts.
Douglas did not justify the need for that massive injection to his Cabinet colleagues, and the request was blanked. The National Carnival Commission (NCC) has authority over this year’s Carnival celebrations and is the only body that can request additional subventions from the Government. But in an interview yesterday, communications manager Kevon Gervais said the NCC did not request any additional money from the Government.
Newly installed NCC chairman, Lorraine Pouchet, the deputy political leader of the Congress of the People, did not want to comment on the issue, saying instead that she was concerned that such information was making it to the media. When asked whether the NCC requested further cash injections, Pouchet demurred and directed all questions to Gervais. “I am not aware that the NCC made any such request of the minister,” Gervais said. He said the NCC was working within its $314 million budget.
Douglas, in an interview with the Sunday Guardian, confirmed that the request for $43 million was made but refused to give details for the disbursement of such a sum. He also denied that the request was outrightly denied, saying he was “pursuing the various avenues.” “You have bits and pieces of the issue but not the whole story,” he said. “The NCC in general is never fully funded by the budget,” Douglas said.
“The NCC tries to meet its commitment but there is a lack of quality with some of the things that they do.” Douglas said the additional money would have been used to support several national arts organisations, but could not name them. The subventions to the NCC covers its individual stakeholders including the National Carnival Bands Association for the bands and the parade, PanTrinbago for steelpan, and Trinbago Unified Calypsonians’ Organisation for calypso.
Douglas said up to 2013 the NCC was in debt but could not confirm who was owed the money. “I believe the NCC was owing $118 million, I reduced the debt in 2014 and tried to solve that problem,” he said. He said the money he sought would have improved Carnival, but the general public would not really notice the lack of the embellishments that additional money would have provided.