Keep the politics out of our festival

29.JUN.07

EDITOR: Permit me this opportunity to comment on Mr. Ambrose, Chairman of the CDC as it relates to his letter in the print media.

I must say that his comments brought back memories of a comment he made, in which he stated that he is “TRINI 2 the BONE.” At that period in time, I did not know how to take that comment, especially since he is the central voice and planner of Vincy Mas. I must say, as a Vincentian, it had left a negative feeling in my mind.{{more}} It made me wonder if Vincentians could entrust Mr. Ambrose to always improve on the Vincy Mas product by creating a package that demonstrates he has a keen sense of commitment and dedication to our nation and the CDC in making the Vincy Mas product the best in the Caribbean. I grappled with that thought for months, wondering if he is the right person and is he 101% committed to the task at hand.

Now his current outburst in the print media has led me to cast great doubts of his leadership as chairman of the CDC and also his unflinching commitment to making the Vincy Mas product and packaging the best in the region. I think the Minister of Culture, René Baptiste, stakeholders, and the leadership of the government should seriously look into this matter.

I get the feeling that there is a culture in SVG rooted in the belief that once you’re in a position of authority, courtesy of the government, the individual is there for life or whenever the electorate changes government. That cultural practice should be eradicated from the consciousness of our people and it has to start with the government taking bold steps to make this a reality.

It would be a progressive step if the government has in place a policy where the candidate selected as chairman of CDC has to undergo a performance review, preferably every 3 to 4 years, to determine if he or she has been executing the high standard of leadership and management skills required by the administration in their quest to make Vincy Mas a highly successful product.

If the individual and his team are failing in this regard, then the administration should consider serious steps, such as searching for a new candidate to take over the chairmanship of the CDC, because there are those who tend to get too comfortable when not adhering to policies and guidelines of this nature in the execution of their duties to improve our cultural and tourism products.

I am sure there are many competent and talented individuals at home and abroad who have the vision to lead the CDC and who will also surround him or herself with talented and committed people (leave the politics out we carnival) to do the job of making VINCY MAS the envy of the region.

If the vision for carnival is not of this mindset then our No. 1 cultural and tourism product will become stagnant and this can only lead to other carnivals and economies in the region benefitting from our failure to produce a product that is attractive to visitors from the region and especially abroad.

So I say, again, keep the politics out the festival because it will only prevent St. Vincent and the Grenadines from having more of our experienced, talented and gifted citizens at the forefront of making our cultural and tourism products the best the Caribbean has to offer.

So let us have all hands on deck so we can work towards making the richness of our history, culture, hospitality, and people becoming central on the psyche of those in the region and abroad, to the benefit of our economy and nation.

Lance Davis