NLCB spent $2.3M on Carnival events

Some TT $2.3 million of the $3.5 million spent by the National Lotteries Control Board on sponsorship between January 2002 and March 2004, went to Carnival related events. According to Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Conrad Enill, a total of 164 events were sponsored at a cost of $3,504,996.  The lion share $2 million went towards events related to the national festival, involving sponsorship either of the steelband, calypso/soca shows, Carnival fetes and prizes for various Carnival competitions. Some of the biggest payouts went towards the Soca Monarch ($225,000 and $200,000); sponsorship of Fonclaire ($250,000); NLCB J’Ouvert Bomb Competition ($100,000); Customs Boys Cultural Competition ($100,000); TUCO ($200,000) and International Soca Competition ($200,000).

The Minister gave a complete breakdown of the sponsorship over the period, detailing the beneficiaries, the event and the sum. He was responding to a question from Opposition Senator Wade Mark in the Senate yesterday. Approximately $60,000 went towards the sponsorship of Divali related events. $1,000 went to an African Conscious Day held by the National Library Information System. Opposition MP Robin Montano pointed out that some of the Carnival sponsorship were as high as $125,000 and $225,000 for one event. “I have not seen one Indian event of the same amount,” he observed. He also zeroed in on the $11,500 given by the NLCB, which is chaired by Louis Lee Sing, to Citadel Radio for a UTC/FCB Symposium. “Is it the same Citadel owned by the chairman? Was there a declaration of a conflict of interest?” he asked.

There were other problems which Enill faced. In citing some of the beneficiaries, he highlighted the  Cancer Society ($25,000), Desmond Adams (for training $25,000), Crime Stoppers ($30,000); Hindu Credit Union Kids Day ($11,500), SDMS National Hindu Youth Organisation,  (Hindu National Games, $10,000) and Laventille Youth Development Organisation ($1,140). Mark objected, saying that Enill was selecting “in a very discriminatory nature” which beneficiaries he wanted to highlight. Enill said all requests for sponsorhip by the Board were logged by the Registry clerk. They were then submitted to the marketing and public relations officer for assessment on terms based on the critieria which included:  a) a description of the sponsorship; b) contact information; c) a budget for the event; d) direct sales opportunities; e) NLCB benefits; f) marketing opportunities and g) list of other sponsors.

Sponsorship of under $5,000 are forwarded by the marketing and public rela-tions officer to a sponsorship committee. Sponsorships in excess of this go to another committee comprising three Board members, the executive director and the secretary to the Board. He said a key consideration in granting sponsorship was mileage to be gained by the NLCB. In response to another question, Enill said that the total amount of money paid to the firm of Alexander, Jeremie and Company in respect of its investigation into the operations of the NLCB for the period 1998 to 2001 was $362,250. He said this was one of two firms retained. The investigations looked at several instances of breaches of the Act by officers of the Board, he said.