00:00The greatest show on earth is one week away and several events including stick
00:04fighting, the Panorama large band finals, Dimash Gra, Olmas and Juvé will
00:10proceed the parade of the bands on Carnival Monday and Tuesday. Chairman of
00:14the National Carnival Commission Winston Gypsy Peters is making this pronouncement.
00:19This is the safest carnival that you can ever come to and forget about
00:23what you hear in about crime and things. Trinidad and Tobago is crime free as far
00:28as carnival is concerned. Come to our carnival, enjoy it and have a wonderful time.
00:33The police service has revealed that it is strapped for resources amid a
00:38state of emergency and as such it has affected at least two party promoters.
00:42But I can tell you that we have been having discussions with the police from
00:46since August or September or thereabout. We've been having meetings and we've
00:50been planning. The police have been involved in every step of the way of the
00:54planning of National Carnival Commission carnival and the thing about it is
00:58that we are seeing it. It is safe you know and at the beginning of our
01:04conversation I said to you that there's no such thing as perfection in the world
01:08in the entire world. No such thing and this is no different.
01:14The NCC chairman says the SOE has been at the forefront of discussions with the
01:18TTPS and apart from that he tells us the Commission is also upping its security.
01:23Carnival 2025 is set to take place under a 148 million dollar budget.
01:29Asked how much of that allocation the NCC has received from the government.
01:33Most times we get the last set or the second set or the third set or whatever
01:39set we do get it after carnival.
01:43Would you say most of the allocation has been dispersed or would you say half of it?
01:50Maybe half, maybe half, maybe half of it. A significant amount, yes.
01:56But Peters tells us this will not affect prizes to be given out for carnival competitions.
02:01They would be paid on time. We do have a price giving, a price giving period where
02:07we put all these things together, yes.
02:11Right, so you prioritize that and then some of the people would not, who would take longer to be paid or what?
02:17The contractors and stuff, the people who do all these edifices that you see all over the country,
02:23all over the country, yes, a lot of times we owe these people but we make sure that
02:28the artisans of carnival are our first priority.
02:32Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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