Trinidad & Tobago Newsday:
Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - Over the years, the staging of Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago (TT) has been has been costing the State an average of $100 million annually. This has caused questions to be asked about the success of the events and whether or not the objectives of the funds are being met.
However, Carnival interests groups says the funding is inadequate to develop and promote the cultural centrepiece of TT.
....Pan Trinbago President, Keith Diaz in a telephone interview on Monday told Business Day that the annual “subvention” of $100 million, or, $125 million allocated to the National Carnival Commission (NCC) this year is “an investment for the people by the State in Carnival.”
....Of the $125 million, $45 million is allocated to Pan Trinbago, NCBA and Trinidad Unified Calypso Organisation (TUCO). Pan Trinbago gets the biggest part of the funding, $25 million, while NCBA get $7.2 million, and TUCO, $7.8 million.
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Hello from England
Put the total cost into context., let us do the maths.
Pantrinbago gets $25million, divide this between the totla number of steelbands and it probably $350,000 per band, and with bands (large) having to prepare 120 players, there is apporximatey $29,100 per player, then there are travel costs? pan yard costs? arrangers fees? transport? cost of rig? and many other hidden costs, that sum is not so large when put into context . The carnival bands get $7.2 million these bands do nothing for the culture of Trinidad all their costumes are made abroad, and in a onesize decoration fit all mentality, there is no enterprise, development in these bands, there the government could save $7.2 million, as these band leaders charge exorbitant prices for costumes that is no more than a string with a few beads hanging, the culture of mas making is lost in Trinidad I say the government should not fund that,
At least pan soca and calypso is still home grown, CALYPSO COULD DO WITH AN INJECTION OF UPBEAT, but on the whole the performers are from within of the islands, they should get the carnival bands share,, so that they could begin to develop or bring back the true art of calypso composition
Sitting through Dimanch Gras this year brought home to me the lack of creativity in the Calypsoes being sung, as long as you knock some one you can call it a calypso, Oh for the diction, and delivery of Kitchener, Sparrow, et al
Gloria London
So much for the crap from the tnt mirror about $250M jumping up in steelband. Headline with no truth. What else is new.
What about the revenue column
The Trinidad Carnival is big business, and the money spent could be considered an investment.
Pan Trinbago, TUCO and NCBA could be considered shareholders in this investment.
The capital is provided by the taxpayers, via the government. and the income generated by this "business" goes into the coffers of businessmen and government..
The "workers" i.e. the panists, calypsonians etc. are also entitled to a share of the income generated by the Carnival, so the money given to them is not "welfare".
The question should not be how much money is actually given to these entities.
It should be how much money is generated by Carnival activity, and what share of these funds do the people that actually create the Carnival receive?
I have never seen an accounting of how much revenue is generated by Carnival activity, including tourist related revenue from air fares,lodging, taxes, etc.etc.etc.
(BTW, I tried to submit this directly to Newsday, but i could never read the stupid the "captcha" code thing that some sites use. I don't know if they realize it, but that code thing really sucks, and it turns people off)
Hope it increases to 50%