The announcement by Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris that the government has cleared its 2014 Carnival debts with 2015-2016 funds does not sit well with former arrival Chairman Sylvester Anthony.
In an exclusive interview with The Observer, Mr. Anthony challenged the Prime Minister and his colleagues to provide the media with a list of names of service providers and the amounts paid to them.
Anthony challenged the Prime Minister, Minister of Culture and the chairman of the National Carnival Committee to provide a complete list of persons paid who were owed by the National Carnival Committee under his chairmanship.
During an interview with a local media agency, Carnival Chairman Noah Mills said when the committee was installed last September, they had submitted a budget to Cabinet to cover all expenses for the period. Anthony claimed ‘If he (P.M. Harris) is asserting there were no monies to pay service providers for this year (the last Carnival), they should provide you with a list of all the persons whom they claim to have paid and the amounts they have paid. That is the first thing they would have to do.”
Once this is done, he said he would make an official comment addressing the 2014 debt controversy.
A source with alleged knowledge of Carnival said more questions have arisen over claims made by Mr. Harris that the 2014 debts were cleared with the 2015 funds. It is unclear, he said, if the government disclosed to the House in the December 2015 budget presentation that the funds included in the estimates of included funds to cover the cost of the outstanding debt.
Former Minister of Culture and Parliamentary Representative for Constituency #2 Marcella Liburd on Wednesday, May 4, was critical of the government for the late payment of the bands. She reminded the government that these were the only people who have not been paid what they were owed five months later.
