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GOVERNMENT SUBVENTIONS to the tents will continue this Crop-Over, but the economic recession raises doubt about their future. Chairman of the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) Ken Knight has given the assurance that despite some speculation, the $16 000 subvention per tent was still being granted to those which complied with the NCF regulations. However, they will be under review in the coming years. "We have to rationalise the subventions and we have to call the stakeholders and have some dialogue on the issue. We're going to keep them this year, but there will be changes on the card from next year in respect to subvention rescheduling. We cannot continue on this current path," he told the DAILY NATION in an interview. President of the Barbados Association of Tent Managers (BATMAN) Sinclair Gittens conceded that tents couldn't expect to have a subvention "until infinity", but he cautioned: "Without putting something in its place the tent culture will die." He added that the loss of subventions would impact negatively on the tents, particularly as corporate support was also down. BATMAN boss said he believed the name subvention needed to changed. "It suggests that it is something that can be given or taken away at any given time. It should be a participatory fee. "They're asking us, the tent members, to stage the first part of the major competitions, whether the Pic-O-De-Crop Finals and Party Monarch Finals. The tents stage the preliminaries and the tents stage the finals and semi-finals . . . . The tents do most of the preparation for the artistes. While [in the end] it boils down to the calypsonian, it's the tent that lays the platform for the competition," said Gittens. Former NCF chairman Anthony Waldron, in seeking to clarify comments he made in the last WEEKEND NATION on the issue, said he did not intend to suggest Government cut subventions from the tents. His position was that subventions be paid up-front to "jump start" tent activities. Knight also said that in light of the economic downturn in the country, they had already made some adjustments to the Crop-Over calendar. The Heritage Fair for example, scheduled for Farley Hill, was no longer on the cards. "The next Heritage Fair will be the Heritage Gala at Queen's Park," he said, adding that other cutbacks were in the Cavalcades and the Pan In De Future Tense. Other likely changes for this Crop-Over was lengthening the route for the Grand Kadooment to include the roundabout at the bottom of University Hill, and the rethinking of staging the Pic-O-De-Crop Semi-finals at the Wildey Gymnasium, in light of the calypsonians' concerns. |
| Last Updated ( Friday, 19 June 2009 17:24 ) |