BASSETERRE, St. Kitts- RECENTLY appointed Acting Chairman of Carnival, Sylvester Anthony, who served on the calypso sub-committee last year, said that outstanding Carnival payment issues have to be dealt with as a matter of priority.
In an exclusive interview with SKNVibes he said that as the Acting Chairman, he is going to deal with the outstanding payments and ensure that there is money coming in to pay for the events they engage in.
“We need to make sure that the people who had provided us with services in the past are compensated.
“But this year we are taking a whole new and fresh approach to how we manage Carnival finances by ensuring we get value for money. We have to make sure that people don’t see Carnival as an opportunity to simply make money, but also to contribute to a national event,” he added.
The Acting Carnival Chair told SKNVibes that they are taking budgets seriously and that budgets have been developed and they are soliciting competitive bidding from various suppliers to make sure they are getting the best quotations and best prices.
“We are also going to ensure that sponsors who benefitted tremendously from the publicity of Carnival pay proportionately and fairly.”
Following this year’s prize giving ceremony, many participants of Carnival, specifically calypsonians, complained that they had not received monies owed to them for their services during Carnival.
Several weeks ago, one of the leaders of the Calypso Tents claimed they were still owed monies while another calypsonian said that they were going to boycott this year’s carnival because of the unfair treatment of not being paid.
He said the issue of payment to suppliers, providers, vendors and artistes in Carnival is a matter of great concern to him personally and to the National Carnival Committee.
He said it has been a recurring problem that has to be solved.
“We cannot put all our efforts in putting together an exciting and eventful Carnival, to spend months afterwards trying to figure out how to pay people, that is something I am hoping we can deal with this year and deal with it in a decisive manner.
As Acting Chair for Carnival, I want to personally apologize to all those vendors and suppliers and artistes, who may have not been paid or who may have been having difficulty getting paid, and even to those who have been paid and there was a delay in paying them. I apologize for it, and I’m going to make sure that this does not reoccur,” he said.
In terms of one Calypso Tent claiming they are owed monies in the sum of EC$21 500, Anthony said that he is not privy to what has been paid to them or what is owed.
He said he is aware that last year and the previous one, some EC$16,000 was promised to the two tents for them to provide some support for the calypsonians who took part in the tents.
“The Committee would have simply provided the money. I do not know if monies have been paid but what I do know is a list of names have been given recently of persons who have not been paid and that is about seven vendors. I do not sense from the list it involves calypsonians or monies for the tents.
“As far as I’m aware the Legends Band is owed money. Whether the money is in relation to the Calypsonians or for the events the band played at I’m not sure but the Legends Band has received an initial payment and there is a balance left,” he said.
Anthony said that for the first time the Carnival Committee had assumed payment for all the costs related to the hosting of the tents.
He said that last year the tent leaders did not have to pay for any of the expenses such as the trucking and other costs related to the tents, and that they were still able to collect revenue whether from the gate or from the host venue.
“Those monies went to the tent leaders, in addition to the cost that we covered.
“However, I am in the process of ascertaining what payments have been made, to whom they have been made and if there are any individuals that remain unpaid.”
Anthony said that Carnival expense was not just the Government’s responsibility and by extension the tax payers responsibility. He said there is a tremendous amount of mileage that comes out of Carnival.
“But private sector entities, those who have been our partners we want them back on board, but we’re saying to them we must be fair with each other; you must provide us money corresponding with the kind of marketing bonanza you get from Carnival.”
In terms of plans for this year’s Carnival he said, National Carnival will be launched October 27 and that everything has been going well and that the Committee has been meeting even without a chairperson.
“The Committee has been meeting for the past four months planning activities, pending the Minister’s appointment of a Chair, so they had the meetings and plans are well underway,” he said.
