THA working on policy for October, national carnivals

THE Tobago House of Assembly is moving to establish a policy to govern the operations of its flagship October carnival as well as the national carnival.

Dr Charleston Thomas, technical adviser, Department of Culture and Antiquities, made the announcement on May 15 during a stakeholder consultation on carnival at the Division of Community Development, Youth Development and Sport, Glen Road, Scarborough, Tobago.

The consultation sought to get feedback from masmen, the steel band fraternity and other interest groups on ways in which the island’s input in both carnivals could be improved.

“Ultimately, the administration is moving towards establishing a clear policy on how the national carnival is executed and how the October carnival is executed and you are key to that. And not just stakeholder engagement but a very important part of the engagement is an understanding by stakeholders that the stakeholders in carnival are many and varied, ” Thomas said.

He continued, “So the people we think are only stakeholders are not quite the only stakeholders. When we think of stakeholders from a larger conceptual level, we not just dealing with people who are involved in the execution and the planning of carnival but also dealing with the people who are impacted by carnival and also must have a say in how the carnival feels and is experienced.”

Thomas said the consultations will be streamlined to include the views of groups of people.

The views, he said, will be compiled over time to inform the policy on how the national and October carnival is to be executed.

Thomas said the policy may not be formalised in time for the October carnival.

“What we will continue to do is to meet with people. But what I want to tell you is that it is not going to necessarily happen for this year because the policy-building process takes a lot of time and we have to do a good canvassing of the Tobago society to see what really is the sentiment on the island.

“Carnival is for everybody, even if they don’t think it is for them. So we have to get, as wide as possible, that kind of perspective.”

He also advised stakeholders to give their opinions about the virtual platforms that could set up to share information regularly.

“We have church groups to meet, we have fisherfolk to meet, we have villages to meet and we have you to meet.”

Thomas reiterated developing a policy is a process.

“It is not a fast-changing thing and it cannot be a fast-changing thing. Help us held Tobago and the carnival product.”

Niall George, assistant secretary, Division of Tourism, Culture, Antiquities and Transportation, said the consultations are not just about creating an environment for the island’s economy to make money from the carnivals.

“It is also about cultural retention. We have to marry both,” he said.

George said he had heard many discussions and complaints about the issues stakeholders’ encountered with both carnivals.

As such, he said, the consultations were necessary.

“We are still having some of these issues but for us to deal with these issues, we need to get to the root, get to the core, listen to the persons that are affected in any possible way.

“So that is why we have started these consultations so that we could take note of what is taking place and can drive a policy that we can eliminate many of the issues we are experiencing.

Kern Cowan, Tobago Festivals Commission Ltd CEO; Shelly Trim, the division’s administrator; and Jesse Taylor, cultural officer 11, Department of Culture, also attended the event.

The next consultation is expected to be held at the Belle Garden Multipurpose Facility on May 20.