~ Requested to submit audited financials since 2004 ~
PHILIPSBURG--With a debt of US $150,000 and a new request by the Island Government to submit audited financial reports dating back to Carnival 2004, St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) President Gina Illidge said she doubted Government would be approving the budget for Carnival 2010.
In an interview with The Daily Herald Illidge gave some information on SCDF's financial dilemma, which was causing a setback in allocating funds for Carnival. She said the board had been asked to present audited financial reports for the first time in the history of Government subsidising Carnival.
Illidge said that during a recent meeting with the Island Government SCDF had been given a March 1 deadline to submit these reports along with the projected budget for Carnival 2010, which she said was estimated at $195,000.
She said obtaining all the necessary paperwork for auditing took time and SCDF had not been able to meet the deadline. "This is one of our setbacks and right now we are so busy buried in paperwork," said Illidge.
The board had requested an extension of the deadline, but this was rejected. However, Illidge said the board had asked Government whether it should continue making preparations for this year's Carnival and no response had been given. Even so, she said, the board was moving ahead with preparations.
On the other hand, she said, "Government is not releasing funds until these papers are handed over. So I honestly doubt we will get anything before Carnival starts." However, she noted that the budget for 2009 had been audited and the SCDF board had submitted audited financials for the first time.
Illidge also said that while SCDF had been questioned on the sense of continuing with this year's Carnival if it had not paid out prizes and expenses from last year, cancelling Carnival was not an option. She said the board viewed such a move as detrimental, as Carnival brought in substantial revenue for the island.
She pointed out that while it was not apparent to off-island Carnival stakeholders that SCDF was in serious financial difficulties, there remained significant enthusiasm with revellers throughout the region already making calls to participate. Moreover, she said cancelling Carnival this year would only set a trend that would linger behind in years to come.
With a budget of about US $130,000, Illidge said much cost had been cut with the benefit of more promoters' nights this year (seven in total). In addition, she said this budget depended on whether GEBE would provide free electricity to Festival Village throughout Carnival.
She said the budget also depended on whether Government would subsidise garbage collection and the maintenance fee associated with utilising the Festival Village. She said the booth holders' fees should be able to aid in the maintenance of the Festival Village and, depending on sponsorship, prizes for this year would be paid out.
Carnival stakeholders who are vocal about Carnival's state of affairs have been quite cooperative, according to Illidge. However, they have not taken up the invitation to become members of SCDF, but indicated they would contribute to the board meetings. She explained that the stakeholders' position on joining the board had to do with the commitment of binding themselves to the board and the financial circumstances.
Attempts to contact Culture Commissioner Hyacinth Richardson and Culture Department Head Neville York proved futile. However, this newspaper understands that this new requirement for SCDF to submit audited financial reports is possibly tied to new regulations of the Committee for Financial Supervision.
