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  • 6 days ago

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has banned the hosting of fetes at the Brian Lara Stadium, and UDECOTT has simultaneously taken a decision to ban the hosting of events at all UDECOTT sites. The news has hit the entertainment industry hard, with one association warning that the move signals the death of Carnival, Entertainment and Tourism. Rynessa Cutting has more.

Transcript
00:00Less than 100 days before Carnival, the government has taken a decision to ban the hosting of events at Uticot sites.
00:08In a social media post today, Prime Minister Kamla Passat-Bazesa says, quote,
00:13Noise pollution is a nuisance. I instructed that all feds at the Bryan-Lara Stadium be stopped as the noise has become unbearable for residents.
00:22For far too long, the issue of noise pollution and its negative impact on communities has been ignored.
00:28My government is committed to addressing this as promised, end quote.
00:33The post goes on to state that before the end of the year, government will pass fireworks legislation in Parliament
00:39and introduce enhanced noise pollution laws to regulate designated quiet hours,
00:45as well as new restrictions on feds, music trucks, residential parties and bars.
00:51Meantime, Uticot Chairman Shankar Badesi says,
00:54The board has approved a policy that there are to be no feds at any of Uticot's premises.
01:00The news has sent shockwaves through the entertainment sector,
01:04with the Trinidad and Tobago Promoters Association calling it
01:07the death of carnival, entertainment and tourism.
01:12The TGPA has labelled the move a destructive retrograde step,
01:16arguing that it undermines one of the nation's most important non-energy revenue sectors,
01:22adding that events employ over 100,000 people directly during the two-month carnival season.
01:29The TGPA warns that this will further deepen the unemployment crisis facing Trinidad and Tobago
01:36and directly reduce the country's ability to earn foreign exchange.
01:41The association further notes with dismay that many promoters who had already received approval
01:47to use the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, the International Waterfront Centre and other key venues
01:53were informed only this week that their permissions had been revoked
01:58and laments that this has left more than 20 of the largest carnival events without a home.
02:04The association further notes the recent increase in the cost of alcohol,
02:08which it says has already had a catastrophic impact.
02:11The association further points out that TNT is known globally as the Mecca of Carnival
02:16and says it will not sit quietly by while this legacy is destroyed.
02:21The TGPA is therefore calling for an urgent meeting with the Prime Minister.
02:26Meantime, former Minister of Tourism Randall Mitchell is taking the Prime Minister to task
02:31for her use of the word noise to refer to our cultural events.
02:36We have already seen the reduction in sponsorship to steel bands.
02:42We have already seen a reduction in the subvention to the National Carnival Commission.
02:49And now we are seeing that they are blanket bands.
02:54And Trinidad and Tobago's cultural expression in music,
02:59whether it be by steel pan, calypso or soaker,
03:04must not be reduced and described by the word noise.
03:10We are long past those days.
03:13Mitchell says while noise pollution is a valid concern,
03:17the focus should be on regulation and enforcement.
03:20What is needed is a policing of the regulations on decibel limits,
03:26event hours and sound management by the EMA,
03:33by the management of the Brown-Lara Stadium and by the promoters.
03:40Renasa Cutting, TV6 News.
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