Udecott: Carnival centre on

Although Prime Minister Patrick Manning announced last September that an underground state-of-the-art facility is to be built and the Grand Stand torn down, the building is still standing. Carnival had its las lap this year but may return to the Port-of-Spain venue as no work on the new centre has begun, Newsday reported exclusively last week.

Government has been advised that the proposed plans for the Carnival and entertainment centre could not work and Newsday has been informed that the cabinet note for its construction has been withdrawn.

But in a statement, the Urban Development Corporation (Udecott), the project manager, said it has begun reviewing detailed engineering drawings for the project.

Udecott’s public affairs manager Danielle Jones, who was appointed a week ago, could only say that “it’s part of the process” in an answer to why the reviews were now being done ten months after the Prime Minister’s announcement in the 2005/2006 Budget.

Jones could not say if Udecott had returned to the drawing board after the advisor’s assessment. Neither could she say when the review would be completed and be taken to Cabinet for approval. Minister of Community Development, Culture and Gender Affairs Joan Yuille-Williams has not returned calls made to her office over the past few days. There was a promise to return a call on Friday but that never happened and yesterday Newsday was only able to speak with an apologetic assistant at the minister’s office.

As things stand, the annual Independence Day parade is on stream to take place as usual at the savannah on August 31, while a number of parties and other cultural activities are being held there with the permission of the National Carnival Commission (NCC). The NCC too is yet that to find a home for its operation. Newsday learnt a meeting of the NCC management was scheduled for last evening but there was not word about the outcome.