No Sugar/Energy Festival this year — all because of a $160,000 debt

There will be no Sugar and Energy Festival this year “and it is not because of any political consideration,” says Feroz Khan, President of the Couva/Pt Lisas Chamber of Commerce.

“It is simply because of an uncomfortable financial position of a total debt amounting to some $160,000,” Khan explained. The Chamber was the main sponsor of the event. Khan said that the “Festival, which started in 1995, was the brainchild of the president at that time, Claude Clarke, and it grew in stature and importance over the years to the extent that it was placed on the national calendar of cultural events to attract tourists to Central Trinidad.” He said that in 1999, the Festival was staged alongside the Miss Universe Cultural Pageant and the delegates competing in Trinidad and Tobago participated in the Festival during the  Decorated Cart Parade through the main street in Couva, and at the Cultural Programme at Gilbert Park, California. In that year a crowd of over 100,000 jammed Couva and California to witness the Festival which received international coverage from the overseas media which were present to cover the event.

Khan said that in the first five  years of the Festival, which aimed at demonstrating the fusion of sugar and energy in the process of showing how they both help in the economic development of the country, he was the Project co-ordinator and “we kept our heads above water not creating any substantial debt whatever.” He explained that in 2001 and 2002 the “standard of the Festival dropped for reasons that were not very clear, and that apart, the debt grew into the region of $160,000.” “On the face of such a huge amount owing, the new Executive of the Chamber took a decision in December last, which was ratified at a General Meeting in February, not to stage the Festival this year until the Chamber made a tremendous effort to help pay off some of the bills,” Khan explained. “So far we are doing well in paying off some of those bills but we are definitely not prepared to stage the 2003 Sugar and Energy Festival in the face of our financial position,” Khan said. “Whenever the Festival resumes,” Khan said, “it will be restructured in a manner that will allow it to be self-financing,” the Chamber head explained.

He said that in the past the Chamber had received “tremendous support from the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation, Caroni (1975) Limited, Plipdeco, the National Gas Company, The Ministries of Culture and Sport, and many other businness organisations in staging the Event and I believe that we have set the platform for Government’s involvement in the Festival, hence we are inviting Government’s assistance (especially the Ministries of Culture and Sport) to take over the mantle of responsibility with our assistance.” The festival, he said, is a significant community effort, but we are unable to sustain it due to financial constraints even though we operate with a vision that we must support the area from which we draw our membership,” Khan said.