Couva, Biche mas in jeopardy

FOR THE FIRST TIME in 30 years, Couva will not be hosting a Carnival Queen Show. Added to this, four out of twelve bands have pulled out of the parade of bands for Carnival 2020.

Chairman of the Couva Regional Carnival Committee (CRCC), Ramchand Rajbal said the drastic change was due to the lack of funding from the National Carnival Commission (NCC), for this year’s events.

“The allocation for Couva was slashed by fifty per cent and this why we are not able to host the queen show.”

Prior to 2019, Rajbal said, was allocated to Couva by the NCC to put on seven days of events and competitions prior to and on Carnival Monday and Tuesday.

“In 2019 we got $146,000 to do all that we did in the past and this could not cover the cost of hosting the queen show, as well as prize money to calypsonians and incentives to mas-makers.”

In the past, he said, CRCC offered mas-makers $15,000 for placing first in the Band of the Year competition. However, in 2019, he added they could have only offered $8,000.

Rajbal said without word from the government on this year's allocation the committee was not sure how to proceed.

He then made an appeal to the business community to assist the CRCC in the production of Carnival this year.

The parade of the bands in Couva, he said, attracts thousands people from south and central Trinidad and it is sad that mas-makers are not willing to produce this year.

However, Rajbal assured calypsonians that the Couva Calypso Competition is on and the preliminary round of competition will take place at the Balmain Community Centre on January 26. “This year we will be doing the junior and senior categories of the Calypso competition and we hope to select thirteen for senior competition and nine for the junior contest.”

Chairman of the Biche Carnival Development Committee (BCDC) Imran Ryan Baksh said funding has not been consistent through the years for his area. “I have been serving as chairman of this committee for three years and the allocation has been between $35,000 and $40,000 and this hardly covers the cost of prize money for bands and J’ouvert.”

In the past years the BCDC got $75,000, he said to do four major events.

Baksh called on NCC to look into funding for regional Carnival as villages could not produce at a high level on a small budget.

Baksh also noted that a team of people in the nearby village of Plum Mitan was getting the sum of $25,000 to host J'ouvert.

“Every time we call on the NCC to bring the two groups together under one umbrella they ignore us.”

BCDC hosts both Monday and Tuesday mas, Kiddies’ Carnival on Sundays and also J’ouvert. Therefore, the Biche committee, he outlines, is offering a lot for little money.

The late release of funding poses a problem in Biche, he said, as the committee is not able to hire a DJ System and book venues for the hosting of shows in Carnival in time. Bandleaders are also reluctant to come forward and play mas this year as they are not sure what the prize money will be.

Baksh said there are five bands and up to 2,500 masqueraders on the street of Biche each year.