No $$ yet for Sando Carnival

San Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello. FILE PHOTO
San Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello. FILE PHOTO

SAN Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello said yesterday that the San Fernando Carnival Committee (SFCC) is yet to receive its 2019 allocation from the National Carnival Commission (NCC).

Regrello said SFCC is in the process of planning this year’s Carnival events, although it is not sure how much it will receive.

“We have to start putting things in place although we do not have the funding in our hands for City of San Fernando,” Regrello said. The various Carnival bands are working around the clock to be ready for Carnival, he said.

The south-based calypso tent Kaiso Showkase will open on February 8, he said and Skinner Park is being prepared to host the Chutney Soca Monarch show on February 16 and Kaiso Fiesta on February 23.

He noted that the budget for San Fernando Carnival went from $1.2 million in 2016, to $800,000 in 2017 and $400,000 in 2018. “We struggled to meet all payments with a budget of $400,000 and I hoping this will be increased.”

Minister of Finance Colm Imbert has allocated $142 million for this year’s Carnival overall, a cutback of $5 million from the 2018 budget of $147 million. Carnival was given $168 million in 2017 and $270 million in 2016.

Although SFCC is yet to get funding, south Carnival is looking up, as bandleaders say there is a steady flow of masqueraders buying costumes.

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"No $$ yet for Sando Carnival"

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