The Ministry of Community Development Culture and the Arts (MCDCA), through which the National Carnival Commission (NCC) receives its funding, is confirming that $52 million (TT) of its approximately 130M allocation has been released to the NCC to date.
The NCC has made two requests for releases for 2019. NCC’s first request, for the sum of $25million (TT), was received by MCDCA on January 10, 2019.
Within two weeks, the release was processed and the full sum remitted to the NCC. In addition to this, the NCC received an additional sum of $27 million (TT) on Tuesday February 12, 2019, totalling $52 million (TT) provided to the Commission for fiscal 2019. The Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts is also confirming that on Tuesday February 12, 2019, NCC made a second request for releases in the sum of $73 million (TT).
Minister Gadsby-Dolly firmly denies any funding crisis at the Commission and reiterates that “the NCC’s total allocation is not solely for the events of Carnival and therefore there is no requirement for the Commission to receive its total allocation before Carnival". She went on further to assure that, “the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts continues to work closely with the NCC to ensure that the 2019 Carnival and all other activities for which the NCC is responsible are efficiently executed. Economic challenges notwithstanding, the NCC continues to be adequately resourced such that our Carnival experience is fulsome and enjoyable.”