Finance Minister Larry Howai is reviewing T&T’s finances in order to find more money for Carnival activities due to a $150 million oversight made by Culture Minister Lincoln Douglas. Howai met with Douglas and National Carnival Commission (NCC) boss Lorraine Pouchet late into Tuesday and again last night to discuss avenues to fix the $150 million financial hole in Douglas’ budget, as the ministry now cannot meet some of its obligations to some Carnival stakeholders.
The T&T Guardian understands that when Douglas initially submitted his budget allocation figures to Howai before the presentation of the 2015 budget, he neglected to include a $150 million Carnival-related debt incurred by the NCC in 2013. As such, when his ministry was allocated its $314 million budget for Carnival 2015 there was a shortfall after the NCC obligation was met. This sent Douglas back to Cabinet last week seeking $43 million more to meet obligations.
After Tuesday’s meeting, the T&T Guardian understands Howai sent Douglas and Pouchet to renegotiate with Carnival contractors in an effort to reduce the amount owed by the NCC. The two were to report back to Howai yesterday with the reduced figures before any subvention could be taken back to Cabinet for approval. While Douglas issued a media release yesterday denying he had approached Cabinet last week for additional money for Carnival, Howai himself confirmed Douglas did make the request.
“The minister and NCC (National Carnival Commission) has indicated that an error was made in the budget and that they did not receive all their subventions and has approached Cabinet to correct the matter,” Howai said in an e-mail response to questions from the T&T Guardian.
The Sunday Guardian had exclusively reported that Douglas had approached Cabinet for the extra funding and was blanked. Douglas said then he was “pursuing other avenues” but did not elaborate. In his media release yesterday, Douglas confirmed the meetings with Howai but did not say what triggered the meeting. Instead, he said it was to “secure additional funds for the development of the overall Carnival industry.”
Cabinet approval needed
A well placed Cabinet source said when Douglas approached Cabinet last week, it refused to commit to the amount requested and then indicated Howai should meet with Douglas and work out a reduced figure to help Douglas out of the multi-million dollar financial hole. Howai also said yesterday that no single minister could approve any financial requests and that all such financial matters must go through Cabinet for approval.
“Any such request has to go through Cabinet. It cannot be approved by FGP (Finance and General Purposes) and/or another minister. Even if it goes to FGP/minister, it will still have to go to Cabinet,” he said. But even up to yesterday, Howai could not confirm whether the government budget would allow for any additional subventions to Douglas, given that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has called for cutbacks at all ministries due to the falling global oil and gas prices.
“The merits of the matter will have to be considered/determined in the context of all the current circumstances,” Howai said. Despite this, the T&T Guardian was informed that if the Douglas/Pouchet team presents renegotiated and reduced figures, Howai may still be able to squeeze some funds from elsewhere.