Dollar wine man heads NCC board

UPDATED:

Former Port Authority chairman Colin Lucas, best known for his 1991 smash hit Dollar Wine, has been appointed the new chairman of the National Carnival Commission (NCC).

Lucas and other members of the new NCC board were each presented with their instruments of appointment, for a two-year term, by Minister of Community Development, Culture and the Arts Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly yesterday.

The event was held at the ministry in Port of Spain.

Other members are Ainsworth Mohammed (deputy chairman), Dr Susan Burke, Gervon Abraham, Jacqueline Springer-Dillon, Darian Marcelle, Lutalo Masimba (Bro Resistance) of the Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organisation (TUCO) and Pan Trinbago president Keith Diaz.

Lucas, who comes with a wealth of experience in the culture industry, having also been a director on the board of the Copyright Organisation many years ago, described his appointment as “interesting times.”

He told Newsday, “I haven’t had a chance to sit with the board as yet and be briefed on all the matters that would require attention.

“But seeing that Carnival is so soon, clearly there are things that would require urgent attention, so we intend to have our first meeting next week, as early as possible.”

Lucas also said his team had not yet been apprised of any work done by the previous board for Carnival 2018.

“Today was just a board appointment exercise, and the real work will start when we meet as a board and start to go through all the papers and reading up on board minutes, etc.

“I consider all these things challenges, and it’s an area which I was associated for many years of my life.

“While I can’t claim to be an expert on Carnival – and I’m not required to be, actually – I am just required to make sure we can bring the best talent to bear on making Carnival the best it can be. So that’s the nature of the challenge. And I know there is likely to be impact on the organisation, on how it works and what it achieves, and my job is really to make sure that we take all those contributing factors and optimise them for the best output.”

Gadsby-Dolly thanked the members for agreeing to serve and acknowledged the existing institutional knowledge and new strengths on the board. She reminded them of the mandate of the NCC and challenged them to influence and infuse Carnival 2018. She also thanked the outgoing board for their service.