CDC not maximizing full potential of Vincy Mas – McKie

Minister of Tourism, Sports and Culture Cecil McKie says the Carnival Development Committee (CDC) is not maximizing all the opportunities and benefits that could be gained from Vincy Mas annually.

Speaking at a Carnival Symposium at the Peace Memorial Hall last Saturday, McKie urged persons to make an input into the discussions, in order to improve the festival, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary next year.

The Minister said even though the festival has developed into one of the best festivals in the region, there is more work to be done.{{more}}

He suggested that components of Carnival produce written submissions by mid-August each year; that the CDC meet to discuss these submissions by the third week in August each year; and that a symposium be held to reflect and plan by the first week of September each year.

“The CDC must reflect and also release their plan and budget which would be given to the various components for them to review and also the minister for review by the end of September each year.”

McKie said that the final plan should be available to Cabinet for inclusion in budgetary considerations by the first week of October.

“We should have Carnival for 2017 completed, packaged and included in the discussions at a budgetary level,” he added.

The Tourism Minister further stated that a schedule of activities should be released by the middle of October to the media, so that Vincentians living abroad and nationals of other countries could have a clear outline of what Vincy Mas is going to look like for the following year.

“And of course, after that it would be a case of implementation by all of the components,” he added.

“I think if we establish those protocols and procedures… we would be well on our way to addressing a number of the issues that persons would bring up from year to year, so that we indicate that we are not afraid of these issues being raised, but that we’d take them on board and we’d craft our programmes and our activities for the following year based on these submissions.”

Additionally, McKie said stakeholders and persons involved in the festival must hold themselves to higher standards that would guide the festival going forward and that would also guarantee that Vincy Mas remains an outstanding product.

McKie said the standards would allow the Ministry of Culture to ask persons to improve where they would have fallen short, and also allow them to point to other festivals that are being developed in the country.

“I think we have that opportunity now to shift gears, improve our standards, make things better, make the Vincy brand more outstanding,” he said.(AS)