Members of the Congress of the People (COP) were denied access to the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA) in Port-of-Spain yesterday. Some members of the COP, led by political leader Winston Dookeran, assembled outside NAPA around 11 am to tour the facility. But as the group tried to enter the facility they were quickly confronted by a group of security officers, led by the head of University of T&T (UTT) security Ben Ramnarine. COP activist Anil Roberts said the party sent a letter asking to tour the facility, but did not receive a response.
Ramnarine informed them that their request was not approved.
He said a letter was faxed to the COP office, stating that they would receive an answer by March 23. Dookeran said: "We came to tour the facility to see whether citizens were getting value for money." He added that this came in light of the recent concerns expressed by the Artists Coalition of T&T (ACTT) that NAPA was not functional for local artists and citizens were not getting value for money. "We want to see it ourselves, right now we are giving them the benefit of the doubt until we get the opportunity to tour the facility...We want to find out if it is a white elephant," Dookeran said.
He added that they wanted to determine whether it was fact or fiction concerning the functionality of the place and if it would be a burden on the Treasury. He said the people had a right to information and was calling on the Culture Minister to address the concerns raised. Roberts said the party had written to the Community, Culture and Genders Affairs Ministry, Queen's Hall board and UTT, requesting permission to tour the facility. He said they had written to the three organisations as they were uncertain as to which one had the authority.
Based on the report by ACTT, Roberts highlighted some of the flaws at NAPA, saying that the doors were smaller than the required specifications for artistes who had equipment, no outside stage for outside cultural events, and a smaller stage was also required. He said the outdated analog systems installed was useless and the Government should have considered modern technology such as a digitalised system.
He added JW and Blaze were also denied permission to film their Road March hit Palance in front the facility. However, soca artist Neil Iwer George, calypsonian D Original De Fosto (Winston Scarborogh) and chutney singer Ravi B came under fire by Roberts for going against the ACTT and praising the Government for the "wonderful" facility. Roberts challenged the three artistes to host their own show without any kind of subsidisation and prove to the public that it can be economically viable.