The former PNM administration should perhaps not have broken down the Grand Stand and stage, according to former PNM minister Jerry Narace. Ex-PNM public relations officer Narace, who was among thousands of 2011 Carnival masqueraders, said yesterday: "Trinis really seem to love the stage, you get that sense...you cannot deny it. "So in hindsight is it now clear to me that the Carnival was enhanced simply because the people were able to go back to the stage," he added. Narace, who had been in Tribe's Bliss band, was one of several PNMites who reflected on the Carnival presided over by the new People's Partnership administration.
The Government has boasted of success, particularly with the return of the Savannah stage. On the PNM's handling of the issue, Narace used the issue of the NAR's implementation of VAT-and other negative issues affecting UK and US governments-to illustrate his point. Admitting that VAT might have been a contributing factor to the NAR's loss of office, he, however, argued: "Sometimes governments seek to lead rather than represent, and good governance is not just about representation, it is about leadership." PNM Senate leader Pennelope Beckles also conceded: "When you listen to the masqueraders speak about Carnival 2011, you see that the stage is an integral part of the day for them.
"They didn't view it positively when the stage was removed three years ago -that should have indeed been handled differently," she added.
Post-Carnival, Narace said the issue remains, the wait to get on the stage. He said it took his band-about 2,500 strong-three hours to hit the stage by 10 am. "I want to endorse Brian Mac Farlane's call that some bands cross the stage on Monday and some on Tuesday," he said.
"The time has come to expand the area since Carnival is growing and the infrastructure is not keeping pace." Narace, citing incidents on Ariapita Avenue-which he claimed had not occurred before-said he did not see as high a police presence as in previous years. Former PNM culture minister Marlene McDonald said the decision to remove the Savannah stage was not taken by her. She said she met Carnival on the road in 2007 when she took up that ministry.
"It was the PNM's vision to have a Carnival street parade as opposed to crossing a stage," McDonald said. "I'm not saying our decision to break down the stage and everything was a mistake, it was simply a difference in vision. "We have our vision and the People's Partnership has theirs. "The National Carnival Centre we proposed would have had a stage...it was intended to house artistes' shows. "But you have to look at what Mac Farlane is saying now-that the wait for the stage is too long and he will break every rule. McDonald also took issue with crime over the recent 2011 Carnival. "I adjudicated over previous Carnivals and they were crime-free...Look at that fracas on Ariapita Avenue on Tuesday night!" she said.
"So what is the Prime Minister talking about locking down Port of Spain? She doesn't know what lock-down is."
Former PNM culture minister Joan Yuille-Williams, under whose tenure the stage was removed, said she had her own views on this and would send a release on it. Subsequent calls to her cell phone went unanswered. PNM MP Colm Imbert said: "It's a pity that in its haste to construct a stand for the 2011 season, the Government duplicated the old Grand Stand with all of its attendant problems, including poor visibility in terms of viewing large costumes, poor layout, inadequate facilities and no proper architectural or ergonomic design."