Weekly Column

Disappointing might be an apt description of our national festival this year, sad as this is to thousands of us who were looking forward to some respite from the long, hot summer of high prices and higher taxes.

Just ask the anxious mothers who were not able to escort their little ones across the stage at Kensington Oval. The Pic-O-De Crop semi-finals and the Party Monarch Finals were both a bust with smaller than expected crowds. And now Cohobblopot is to become a showcase for American rapper Lil Jon.

After much bluster from the Prime Minister about giving local producers and promoters an opportunity to be involved in this year’s festival the owners of Euphoria Inc find themselves hobbled by the NCF after early indications that it would outsource this year’s Cohobblopot.

Reports from a press conference held by Euphoria Inc indicate that it submitted a bid to the Foundation to stage Cohobblopot before the NCF Board decided to reverse Government’s policy by having the NCF produce the event itself.

To add insult to injury star billing and US$30,000 plus expenses goes to Machel Montano plus his entourage of twenty-one musicians and performers, which could swell the bill to US$50,000. Despicably, our biggest local act, revered in the Land of the Humming Bird was offered US$3,500 - an offer she rightly in our view turned down.

So not only are our local entrepreneurs denied the right to once again produce Cohobblopot, but our own performers are treated like second class citizens by the organization that is tasked with promoting the cultural industries and a Government that professes to put people first.

New Year’s Eve and Crop Over are the two times of the year when local artistes can maximize their revenue potential. We have no quarrel with the inclusion of regional acts at any event during Crop Over, but we see no reason why there should be such a great disparity in their worth. We cannot believe what we are hearing on the ground that certain voices that were heard on Labour Party election jingles are now being given the proverbial finger although the Prime Minster’s reason for dismissing Carol Roberts does lend credence to such a view.

What a sorry state for a nation that once prided itself on recognizing talent no matter where it lay. The warning signs were there from the get go, bolstered by Colin Spencer and Rev. Errington Massiah – Family First and the rest be damned. What a strange co-incidence that Andy John, Machel Montano’s local contact, could be making a donation to Families First during Kadooment week.

It is no coincidence that the Prime Minster would choose Kadooment week, when national attention is focused elsewhere to divulge in Parliament that Hartley Henry is being paid $155,000 a year to act as his Political Adviser. Almost $13,000 a month for a part-time job with no measurable benefits to the country. We shall return to this next week.

We find it equally coincidental that the Prime Minister would choose Kadooment Weekend to appear on Brass Tacks Sunday at a time when the church-goers will be giving God thanks for another harvest and the party animals will be staggering home from 10 to 10.

Perhaps it is not coincidental at all and merely convenient as the Prime Minister might already be in town and able to wend his way over to River Road. We do hope someone will call in and ask him if he knows which of these words is not like the others – festival, feting, frivolity, finance and focus.

A safe and happy Kadooment weekend to all.