The popular sold-out parties this June provided a precursor to the 2023 carnival season as party-goers celebrated ‘we’re out again’.
The upcoming season was then loudly announced by the launch of the Tribe band in July, which drew huge crowds behind the music trucks on Ariapita Avenue. Other promoters stayed at the venues, but their designs were widely featured in all forms of media.
Last week, the Hosay religious procession was said to have “crashed” St. James, no doubt because the tassa drumming provokes an exuberance that does not bear in mind the religious essence of the procession.
Even before these latest events, the hotels were said to be sold out. Therefore, it seems that Carnival 2023 will be a big one, and the final conclusion of the mad rush to exhale, which began as soon as the lockdowns and curfews finally disappeared. We still get stuck. Moreover, wildness more than usual is burying the bonds of forced restraint.
We can safely conclude that Covid has not compromised the DNA of the Trini religion. In fact, the bases of that DNA are dug up and pumping. However, Covid along with a weak economy, scarred by shutdowns, massive cuts and threats of more cuts have compromised the lives and lifestyles of far more citizens than those still locked out. The pain of living in Trinidad and Tobago under current conditions will not be cured by jammin alone.
The violent crime crisis is an additional economic burden and a further contributor to the despair, anger and fear currently prevailing among citizens. We also now have a confirmed reputation for international sex trafficking.
It was therefore not a good time for Prime Minister Rowley, on the occasion of the brilliant gold medal success of Nicholas Paul and Jereem Richards at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, to say: “Today’s activities and the performances of the cyclists, turned on each other, it should dissipate some of the negative vibes that flow through so many people who don’t believe we can make it or that we really are making it.”
Our current difficulties cannot simply be covered up as “negative vibrations”. Furthermore, it is illusory to place the usual reliance on celebrations, fireworks and sporting feats as a means of placating an already divided and deeply disaffected society, and one that contains obvious flashpoints of civil unrest. In many countries where things are desperately serious on the ground, the deprivations of citizens will not be reversed by escape.
Is the Government not capable of stepping up to provide the leadership necessary for us to “get it done” rather than ineptly leaving matters of deep concern to committee after committee appointed by it? If these committees have value, I ask again why is the government keeping secret the report of the crucial Watkins Committee on Community Regeneration?
Although it does not offer any direction on crucial issues of governance, the Government is head-to-head with the opposition in a barrage of heated exchanges. Commentators have warned that such political disagreements and lack of trust in institutions and each other foster crime and violence. See, for example, the statement of Professor Emeritus Dr. Ramesh Deosaran in this newspaper on April 25 of this year: “There is a lot of verbal violence exchanged between politicians and in high places and important institutions of the country. So when you have a hostile environment, an antagonistic environment, it makes it easy to accommodate further violence.”
In this bitter climate, the parasitic adoption of the successes of others by any politician must be treated even more carefully. Often, the state has contributed little, apart from the free use of public spaces and politically dubious subsidies, which are distributed to cultural and sporting organizations and governing bodies, from which little or no accountability is required. Readers will not be surprised if I recall the toxic treatment of Thema Williams, the accomplished human gymnast (whom I represented).
The Minister of Culture and Tourism in the presentation of the Tribe group embraced the success of the private sector of the Tribe organization, which it should be noted has turned into a conglomerate. Does his ministry have a carefully thought out policy aimed at realizing the economic growth potential of all elements of our performing arts?
– Martin Daly
