Too Much Ah Kangatang

It is Carnival time, bacchanal time in sweet TnT. Of course, not Trini Carnival will be We Ting without a good riddling puzzlement speech by a clever Pierrot Grenade.
So, when the stories mounted totalling over 20 articles in 3 daily newspapers about the ‘fete in the sea’ episode, we were treated to a tale more perplexing than anything master Pierrot, Felix Edinborough might be able to conjure up.
The tale is long in its historical development of some 18 months – from August 2018 to February 2020, from Guadeloupe to Port of Spain and Maracas Bay.
There once was a junior Education Minister who embarked on a “diplomatic mission” aka an education-cultural exchange. Funny thing, though, neither a Government nor an Educational institution invited this mission. Nor were the Foreign or Education Minister invited.
The invitation, airplane tickets, accommodation, even VIP tickets to the event came from the organisers of  Karuk­era One Love Mu­sic Fes­ti­val. Strange diplomacy you can imagine.
To keep things official the Cabinet approved the junket and provided $5,474 of public money as per diem for the ‘diplomat’ Minister.
On his return, the diplomatic missionary took to social media to extol “the potential ...economic and otherwise …or else my visit would not have been approved.”.  So, it seems, the merry missionary was also assessing the economic potential of links with these promoters from a French-speaking regional neighbour. But, neither the Trade, Tourism nor Culture Minister were part of the ‘diplomatic mission’.
So enthusiastic was our nation’s latest diplomat, that 6 months ago, he took to social media again to tell us: ““Hey peeps. Last year I had the great plea­sure of rep­re­sent­ing us at the Karuk­era One Love Fes­ti­val in Guade­loupe….but next year it is to be held right here in Trinidad and To­ba­go. This morn­ing it was my plea­sure to share a light mo­ment with some of the or­gan­is­ers and to meet the of­fi­cial mas­cot of the fes­ti­val, Cheers.”.
So, a second meeting, a light moment with ‘some of the organisers’ to boot, deepening ties between our territories, no doubt.
Then, things got really interesting. On February 6, local agents of the Guadeloupean promoters received approval from the Commissioner of State Lands to proceed with the event, now known as the fete in the sea, because their signature option was to build a stage in Maracas Bay waters.
Some days later, the Agriculture Minister rescinded the Commissioner’s ‘no objection’ letter and the stage had to be put on sandy terra firma.
By now, the Tourism Minister joined with the junior Education diplomat to remind us of the benefits of this fete in the land of fete – millions of Euros being invested with benefits for local suppliers and artists.
But, not a word about the safety of the same artists and the partygoers which the Agriculture Minister told us was his main concern in over-riding his agency’s permission.
Now, de ting start. And it was back and forth in the glare of the public in the media – De fete off …Nah it on again…and kangkatang.
The Minister/Diplomat end up accusing We, the People, of ‘making a mountain out of nothing’ and ‘needed to be more forward-thinking’. This after his PM and Head of Cabinet told us that the Government “mishandled” the situation and “let our guard down” by allowing this ‘diplomat’ to accept an invitation and go to Guadeloupe on a mission financed by private interests contrary to long-standing Cabinet policy.
Speaking after this admission by his boss, the Minister/Diplomat then claimed the ‘legitimacy of his diplomacy’ was due to his invitation coming from the Mayor of that territory and not the promoters despite his previous social media postings and Cabinet records.
Well, Mr. Minster/Diplomat, this is no mountain out of a mole hill yarn.
There are serious issues of public safety and governance involved in this entire episode from which we, the people, will not be diverted by promises of milk and honey, euros and a few dollars more.
The PM admitted the breach of policy which you described as ‘we may have stepped slightly away from’ even after saying that after the PM’s admission, ‘there is nothing I could say after that’.
And to add insult to injury by trying to shame We the People by claiming that we are not ‘forward-thinking’, you need to apologise big time. And so, too, should your new-found friend, the promoter who said this country ‘missed a grand opportunity’ because he couldn’t put his stage in the sea for a fete that probably had a smaller attendance than Machel Monday or Kes Tuesday or any beach cooldown to come Ash Wednesday or next weekend.
And, by the way, did your promoter friend not showcase this fete and TnT because his stage was not in the saltwater?
We are not beggars or hustlers. We are the proud people of TnT. We are the people who provide the world with the unique Trinidad Carnival. You and  your promoter friend owe us an apology big time.
The relations between the people and territories of Guadeloupe and TnT are far more important and significant than you suggest.
We share a long history and deep relations. Please don’t try to involve us in your kangkatang and belittle our ties with our Caribbean neighbours.

Clyde Weatherhead
A Proud and Patriotic Trini who
Loves Our Culture and Good
Governance too.
22 February 2020

---