Diego Martin Central MP Dr Amery Browne yesterday called for an audit of the Nicki Minaj concert which took place at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port-of-Spain, on October 30. Browne raised questions about funding for the concert which featured other local artistes and was staged by Project Records in collaboration with the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs. He said he was asking about the funding in Parliament last Friday when successful moves were made by the Government to stop him from speaking. He then made a fresh call for Persad-Bissessar to "conduct an audit of this project. I once again call upon them to disclose to the public exactly where the funds came from." The Opposition MP said sources within the Sport Ministry "have indicated that the money came from the youth development budget."
He said the project could not be referred to as a youth development project but rather a "youth decay project" and the Government must say whether a private individual was the beneficiary of the ticket sales and gate receipts from the concert. He said the Government spent money to bring Minaj to T&T, on advertising for the concert, appearance fees, managers' fees , stage cost and other things.
"And then all allegations are that a private individual is benefiting at the end of the day and putting money in his own pocket," he added. He said: "That must be a concern to every single citizen and it is something the Government has to respond to.
"They have been very silent so far on this matter and they seem very offended when legitimate questions are asked about this particular project." He said youth groups in Diego Martin and other parts of the country have indicated to him that their projects requiring funding in the past month have been rejected.
He said there might be a "connection between the application for about $900,000 for that concert, which traditionally is about 50 per cent of the annual youth development budget. "So this is a very serious matter. If the youth development budget is being depleted for youth decay projects, I think we are heading in the wrong direction," he added. However, in an exclusive interview with the T&T Guardian yesterday, promoter Darryl Braxton, of Project Records, said Browne could have contacted him by telephone to get all the facts about the event. Braxton explained that the event was sponsored by b-mobile, Carib and others and the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs was approached and came on board as a willing supporter. He said he also contributed financial resources towards the project, had all receipts to show and account for the event, which he said had left him "out of pocket."
Braxton insisted: "It was not a ministry show. They were a sponsor of the show. "The show did not make any money. I did not make a cent. I am still owing money. The man (Browne) does not have his facts straight." Braxton said the ministry was only a part sponsor of the concert. He said one of the major benefits to come out of the money-losing event was the signing of a contract with Universal IMG Records. He said Project Records was now a subsidiary of Universal IMG. The promoter said he did not hear Nicki Minaj use any obscene language during the show. He said she was given a letter before the show advising there would be many children and young people in attendance and the show should be clean. "It was a clean show," Braxton added. Sports Minister Anil Roberts could not be reached for comment on the matter yesterday.
The issue
Opposition MP Dr Amery Browne moved a motion on the adjournment of Parliament two weeks ago, claiming that obscene language was used during the concert by the T&T-born artiste. Browne called for Sport and Youth Affairs Minister Anil Roberts to be investigated by the Privileges Committee for his conduct in the matter. In an immediate response, Roberts denied there was any obscenity at the concert. Last Friday he apologised in Parliament for giving the impression he might have misled the House in his initial response.