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CUT OUT SUBVENTIONS to calypso tents and let them fend for themselves! That's the call from former chairman of the National Cultural Foundation (NCF), Anthony Walrond, who said he believed the Government agency responsible for staging the Crop-Over Festival should desist from granting on a perennial basis the annual $16 000 allowance. Walrond, who sat at the NCF's helm from 1986 to 1994, said the original intent was to give new tents the subvention, but not every year. "It was intended to help 'jump start' inexperienced tents for their first year into the competition. After that, they would have to go on their own," he said. He said the inverse was now occurring, with new tents which had not yet made it out of the starting gates being made to struggle on their own. "The current NCF needs to review that situation," he said, adding that in previous years there were "delinquent units" . . . different tents which took the money at the start of the season and did not complete the run-up to the Pic-O-De-Crop competition. Walrond's views came in the wake of recent concerns by tent managers who bemoaned the lack of corporate funding for their set-ups. The former chairman also said that in light of the tight economic climate, it would be prudent to consolidate the 14 existing tents. Another founding member of the NCF, Elombe Mottley, called for tents to furnish audited accounts to help determine eligibility for aid. "What constitutes a tent in 2009? It's about entertainment – music and comedy . . . . If a tent does not get public support because of poor talent or poor organisation, should they get the same subvention? I would [suggest] to have all tents provide audited accounts as they are small businesses so that the NCF could understand where the real costs and the weaknesses are," he told the WEEKEND NATION via cellphone from Jamaica. Mottley added that after 25 or more years, the business of tent organisation should be worked out. "If it takes two to three years to qualify, then they should have records to show what the problems are." He also asked: "Would the number of tents remain at 14 if there was no subvention?" President of the Barbados Association of Tent Managers Sinclair Gittens said there was need to look at merging some tents. "To be honest, I don't think that 14 tents are really necessary [in] these economic times. I think we need to look at merging. There's not much out there in terms of disposable income now, and we have to be realistic," he said, repeating his stance on the issue. Eight-time calypso monarch Stedson Red Plastic Bag Wiltshire supported the suggestion but doubted whether the stakeholders would consider it. Peter Boyce, who is bringing a new tent, Celebration Time, this year put the onus for tent support on the consumer. "It should be left up to the consumer to make the decision on which tents they will attend; and so market forces would dictate which tents will remain open or have to close," he said. NCF chairman Ken Knight said recently that all tent-related matters were under review. |
| Last Updated ( Friday, 19 June 2009 17:26 ) |