Together we aspire, together we achieve.
This is an appropriate time to reflect on the National Motto and how it should inspire all of us who are part of this unitary state of Trinidad and Tobago to always be and do our best—as one nation.
This is important considering recent posturing by the Farley Augustine-led Tobago House of Assembly (THA), as it prepares to host the island’s first-ever Carnival from October 28-30.
The THA seems determined to keep Trinidad completely out of preparations for the inaugural festival to the exclusion of even the National Carnival Commission (NCC), the agency with the mandate to ensure the sustainable development of that industry.
Earlier this week, chairman Winston “Gypsy” Peters expressed disappointment that since an initial meeting in May, the NCC has been kept in the dark about the upcoming festival. So far, neither Augustine, Division of Tourism, Culture, Antiquities and Transportation Secretary Tashia Burris, nor her Assistant Secretary Megan Morrison, have responded to the NCC’s offer of support.
Last week, Pan Trinbago president Beverley Ramsey-Moore, a Tobagonian, expressed concern about the lack of information, “incoherent planning and haphazard strategic direction of the carnival planning committee with only two months remaining” before the event. Ramsey-Moore’s concerns have reportedly since been addressed in a meeting with Secretary Burris this week on the steelpan aspect of the activities.
Still, Ms Ramsey-Moore, leader of one of the three Carnival interest groups, is not the only person to question the lack of information about marketing and planning for the upcoming festival. Stakeholders on both islands have been expressing disquiet at the paucity of information from the THA and its Carnival committee
To be clear, the THA is well within its right to organise the event on its own, as policy and planning decisions for the festival are entirely within its remit.
Chief Secretary Augustine made his position clear at a media briefing yesterday, insisting Tobago has been hosting festivals much longer than many other territories in the Caribbean. However, there seems to be a perception held by him and other THA members that Trinidad wants to completely control the event.
It would be unfortunate if these and other decisions about Tobago Carnival were motivated by politics.
That misguided belief that Trinidad wants to take over Tobago Carnival could be the reason the THA completely bypassed Trinidad and engaged Grenada for technical and promotional assistance and even sent a ten-member contingent to that island’s Spicemas to promote their upcoming Carnival and organise a ferry charter from Grenada for the festival.
However, it may have eluded all concerned at the Division of Tourism, Culture, Antiquities and Transportation that Spicemas, like every other West Indian-style festival around the world, is a spin-off from the mother of all such carnivals, T&T Carnival.
Instead of this divisive stance, the THA should fully embrace the opportunity to present a Carnival that is distinctly and uniquely Tobagonian.
That is an objective that can be achieved if the THA does not reject the experience and expertise being offered in good faith by the NCC and other Trinidad-based industry stakeholders. We are after all two islands, one nation, completely invested in the success of all our cultural products.