PM Rowley misses Divali Nagar finale

President of the National Council for Indian Culture (NCIC) Dr Deokinanan Sharma said this year’s Divali Nagar ended on a high although there was a no-show from Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.

“This year was no exception as more than 100,000 persons visited Nagar over a ten-day period,” Dr Sharma said.

Efforts to reach Dr Rowley or the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday were unsucessful, however, it was reported that the prime minister sent his regrets to the NCIC on Tuesday, saying he would be unable to attend as he had been tied up in Parliament for the Finance Committee’s meeting.

Sharma said this year’s celebration was one of the biggest in the Western hemisphere and cost approximately $5 million to produce.

This year the Ministry of Culture and the Arts did not reply to the NCIC’s application for funding. The council received $800,000 for last year’s production.

The NCIC hopes to improve parking and traffic congestion for next year’s production which is expected to take place from October 29 to November 6, 2018.