With mere weeks away from Carnival 2019, chairman of the National Carnival Commission (NCC) Winston "Gypsy" Peters says his organisation is yet to receive funding from the Government to manage the country's Greatest Show on Earth.
Peters disclosed this after Wednesday's Public Accounts Committee meeting to examine NCC's financial expenditure for the years 2010 to 2018 was postponed to April 10.
Peters told reporters at the J Hamilton Maurice Room, Parliament Building, Port-of-Spain that NCC was given insufficient time to compile its financial records after being told on December 27, last year they would have to appear before the committee.
Questioned if NCC was faced with challenges for the upcoming Carnival, Peters replied, "Yes, we have some small hiccups here and there."
He made the admission in the presence of his CEO Colin Lucas.
"The biggest challenge is finances. Up to this time, the NCC has not gotten one cent from the Government. Central Government has not given us any subventions to give to anybody for Carnival 2019."
NCC put in a request for funding weeks ago.
"We want monies to do what we have to do. All the things you see happening around Port-of-Spain and San Fernando and other places are being done with the trust of the contractors...not with any money that we have gotten to disperse to them at all."
Peters said NCC has depended on the "goodwill" of contractors to get Carnival work done.
Once funding is made available, Peters assured contractors would be paid.
NCC has been allocated $139 million for this Carnival, $9 million less than 2018. Peters said a lot of that money would be used to clear debts from last Carnival.
The most substantial chunk of NCC's budget will be spent on infrastructural works.
Peters said the budgetary allocations NCC receives to host Carnival events "is nothing compared to the smaller Carnivals" outside of T&T.
He said NCC would be funding the 2019 Soca Monarch and Chutney Soca Monarch competitions, in a bid to benefit from the investments.