NCC finances in ole mas

The public has grown very sensitive, sometimes angry, over how taxpayers' money is spent. More precisely, when government allocates large sums of money to its various agencies, the laws of accountability must be seriously applied.

It is therefore of great public concern that the National Carnival Commission (NCC), since its formation in 1991 (under Act No 9 of 1991), has submitted only eight audited financial reports. Why?

In fact, since 2009, no properly audited report has been submitted to the line minister, Minister of Finance or Parliament, as the act requires.

Is this lawful? And what are Tourism, Culture and Arts Minister Randall Mitchell, Finance Minister Colm Imbert or even the UNC shadow ministers of culture and finance and the prescribed joint select committee doing about this?

The act states: “The commission shall present to the minister annual reports on all activities no later than three months after the close of the financial year.” (July 31.) The act is pregnant with strict financial obligations on the NCC chairman and board, line minister, finance minister.

Certainly, the NCC having been provided with millions of dollars since 2009, these public officials must now explain.

In this “no-accounting” scenario, up came NCC chairman Winston “Gypsy” Peters, recently saying the $147 million for 2024 “was insufficient” since “Carnival 2024 brought in more than $1 billion in revenue.”

Whaaat?

The NCC is now “in the red,” complained Peters.

Where’s the financial report? So is government once again going to freely write off debts, losses, etc? As with other state agencies, such as Cepep, Nedco, etc?

That’s why Section 18 of the NCC Act regarding the National Carnival Fund should be urgently activated: the NCC should account for “moneys appropriated by Parliament, revenue earned, gate receipts, sales, loan, funds provided from such sources as the Minister of Finance may approve.”

More precisely, Section 18(4) imperiously states: “Moneys appropriated by Parliament may be disbursed only where the budget of the commission is approved and laid in the Parliament in accordance with section 21.”

When last was taxpayers’ money handled this way? Will any heads roll?

Look, a lot of us like Carnival, and even Gypsy’s extempo. But where taxpayers’ money is concerned, that’s a different tune.

Sure, Mr Peters inherited a lot from the past, but he now has an opportunity to gain credibility, even integrity, by presenting audited financial reports for 2023 and the years before. Both ministers Mitchell and Imbert, too.

The minister appoints nine people to the NCC board who have “demonstrated an interest in the cultural or commercial aspects of Carnival and with experience in finance, management, government, law, etc.”

So how come, with this impressive package of knowledge and experience, the NCC financial accounts are so disorderly and super-late? Where is the robust independent oversight?

Certainly, the “greatest show on earth” should not be treated so. From the ugly state of NCC financial reporting and widespread concern over Carnival’s “degeneration,” it seems our Carnival is heading to the crisis stage, leaving doors open for severe criticism.

This is not a matter of prudishness or middle-class hypocrisy. NCC financial disorder will provoke added temper of many, like pastor Dr Clive Dottin or the Rev Robert Dash, who says Carnival is “a spiritual sickness” (Newsday, February 14, 2018).

He adds:
“Come on people of TT, can’t you see where we are taking this lovely republic of ours? It is time to stop putting our heads in the sand…And what about the sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies after Carnival…But is there really a verifiable economic argument to support Carnival?"
Society is divided.

Columnist Roy Mitchell, pleading for returning Carnival to its former "costumes of joy, splendour, class and distinction,” condemned “our women who bare their bosoms and bottoms desecrating the sanctity of their bodies.” Both he and Jack Warner regretted the “degeneration” of Carnival.

Carnival enthusiast Donna Yawching wrote: “I have seen more wobbling, jiggling, quivering flesh than I’d expect to see in a porn film or a mass orgy.” She regretted that Carnival was “losing something precious.”

The television coverage is another story.

Then quite noteworthily, Westmoorings’ Gordon Laughlin, in his media letter (February 6), advises: “The current Carnival and Panorama expenses could be optimised if the event were run privately. The construction and demolition of temporary stands, unsightly vendor booths could be streamlined to make the event more attractive, efficient and profitable.” He declared: “Privatisation could eliminate the need for subsidies and create a more sustainable financial model.”

This advice may also help Carnival finances look less like ole mas where anything goes.