Ferrier concurs with
Carnival stakeholders
~ Says Events Management Company should organise Carnival ~
PHILIPSBURG--Michael Ferrier, who along with Keith Franca declined the invitation from the Executive Council to join Task Force 40, stated in his letter to the council that his reason was based on the fact that he felt “too close to the group of traditional St. Maarten Carnival stakeholders” threatening to boycott Carnival 2009 if St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) remains the organiser.
In the letter, a copy of which he provided The Daily Herald, he also suggested that, like the organisation of the annual Heineken Regatta, for which an Events Management Company is hired to coordinate the event, the Island Government should contract one to professionally organise Carnival, noting the council’s suggestion that the management structure of the Heineken Regatta be considered for Carnival.
He said that as a former key member of the original SCDF board (1993-1997), he was well aware that organising Carnival was not an easy task. “I also know from experience that by putting in so many voluntary, unpaid hours to do this, it is easy for the board (and especially the president) to get into a false sense of personal ownership of the event,” he said.
“It is a fact that in most cases, the majority of all the ‘usual’ critics of every SCDF board is made up of what I consider the ‘vocal onlookers,’ the ‘shouters from the sidelines,’ who themselves never stick out a finger to help organise one iota of the single biggest annual local cultural ‘bram,’” he further stated.
However, he said that in this latest dispute he did not believe the SCDF board and its president had displayed what he termed the keys to a successful Carnival – encourage, create and maintain proper, timely and respectful communications with the stakeholders in particular.
“The primary stakeholders share the view that the SCDF board worked in an ‘ad hoc’ manner during Carnival 2008, particularly in terms of introducing arbitrary new rules to the event that did not serve the purpose of improving Carnival. On the contrary, some rules were seen as only to frustrate the efforts of primary stakeholders,” Ferrier stated.
He further wrote in the letter, “St. Maarten’s Carnival is funded by donations, sponsorships from businesses in the private sector and a – in my opinion, way too small – subsidy from the Island Government. The SCDF and its officers have as a primary responsibility, to maintain proper control of these funds and to produce an accurate account of the income and expenses of the foundation for the year.
“At the end of each Carnival year, financial statements must be submitted to your council and made public for transparency’s sake. The current SCDF board, I believe, has not (yet) been able to produce the required financial statements for the year. Despite this fact, the SCDF recently issued a press release in which it announced the ‘start-up’ of Carnival 2009. This does nothing for the trust in the SCDF’s management of the business of Carnival.”
He said this action, in his opinion, indicated that the present SCDF board insisted on running Carnival in an authoritarian fashion, allowing no input from the very people and organisations on whose efforts, investments and creativity the success of any St. Maarten Carnival hinged.
He said in the possible scenarios forwarded to him by the Executive Council for solving the impasse, it seemed SCDF wanted to shed all responsibilities for organising the financial/labour-intensive aspects of Carnival 2009, while remaining overall in charge of the event. “This approach cannot and will not work. Why? From an organisational aspect I foresee major difficulties in terms of coordination between the sub-organisations.
“Moreover, such a setup will not allow for proper financial management. There are only so many sources of funding for the overall organisation of Carnival and these sources need to be tapped by one umbrella organisation rather than by multiple sub-organisations,” he stated.
Therefore, he said, if government accepts and endorses that Carnival is good for the island culture along with strengthening the economy, then it must be committed to investing in it.
As a result, he said, in his opinion if the event is truly to be a “party” for the entire community, entry to the village for all events should not cost more than US $10 to $15 per person, while allowing multiple exits and entries into the village for this price.
To do this, he said, the cost of operating the village, bringing in foreign artistes, etc., must be subsidised so that the brunt of making a profit is not mercilessly passed onto the patrons. He suggested that government-owned companies such as TelEm, PJIAE and St. Maarten Ports Authority should be strongly encouraged to include a yearly contribution of at least $50,000.
He said GEBE should consider annually donating all electricity, water and sewerage services to the village for the duration of Carnival and government should find means not to tax any aspect of the direct organisation of Carnival, while committing to an annual subsidy of $100,000 or more. He also suggested the private sector pay fair market value for the privilege of promoting its products in the village and in the parades.
He concluded by stating that he was convinced that a solution could be found to allow the event to proceed, as Carnival was a cultural phenomenon that united the community of St. Maarten/St. Martin along with regional and international neighbours.
