An unprecedented number of cars for 2011 Crop Over winners.
Sponsors are flowing in, and reportedly offering more than they have before.
During the site visit for Soca Royale at Bushy Park recently, Minister of Culture Stephen Lashley made boast of the fact that the pre-Crop Over preparations and the things that had been rolled out had been controversy-free thus far.
All things to be pleased about, but I find it bittersweet.
During the time I have been following, working in and covering culture closely with four different ministers, four chief executive officers and three chairmen, the state of affairs has never been as dread at the National Cultural Foundation (NCF), and in the Ministry of Culture by extension, as it is now.
That you never miss the water until the well runs dry has never been more apt.
There have been issues associated with Allyson Leacock, Ian Estwick, Vere Browne, Al Gilkes, Ken Knight, Mia Mottley, Owen Arthur and Steve Blackett, but I don’t know of any that match what is coming out of the Stephen Lashley, Monique Taitt and Dr Donna Hunte-Cox combination.
Some would argue that friends and family had a lot to play in the running of things at the NCF for years in terms of CEO, minister and chairman. And there are those who would say Estwick had the best of times in terms of the latitude he was given by the board.
If that were true, the counter-argument can be brought that it could not have continued unchecked if the desired results were not being realized.
I cannot recall a minister and chairman more involved with the direct running of the NCF as Lashley and Taitt are. In January you would have read about the gag order in this space, which seems to have been relaxed a little bit. But from all reports the pressure has been stepped up in all areas.
There was another peculiarity with Knight, who spent a lot of time at the NCF and the Ministry of Culture.
But Taitt is special, and it has nothing to do with the fact that she is the only female to be appointed chair of the NCF.
There are also reports that all correspondence coming from the CEO has to be vetted by the chair; stories of staff, including the CEO, being cited for dress code infringements are circulating.
I have heard that staff sought intervention from their representative union on a matter, and my sources also indicate that the CEO was recently reprimanded because of a story appearing in the Press.
It is just about one week before the first Cavalcade and youth forum signal the unofficial start to Crop Over on May 14, and there is no excitement coming from the officers who are tasked with the delivery of the Sweetest Summer Festival.
In the January 28 edition of We Say So, I said it would be one of the greatest ironies if the stakeholders were smiling all Crop Over long, but the seeds of discontent were growing to epidemic proportions. From all appearances, it is shaping up that way. My prayer is that a wind of change comes and I am proven wrong.
Because I give people the benefit of the doubt even if it kills me, I want to believe that neither Taitt nor Lashley are rebels without a cause.
I want to believe that any measures in place at the NCF are of necessary.
It seems to me that both the chairman and the minister have it within their power to make a change, rather than pulling the entire staff into the equation with the new directives and other actions.
I look at the chief now, who is a shadow of the gutsy person I interviewed in May 2009, when she took up the job. She was full of enthusiasm; her mantra was “yes I can” and she was focused on results and accountability.
What was most telling about that interview was her disclosure that people had offered her condolences and asked her if she was crazy when she accepted the job.
Chief, are you satisfied today that the goals you set for yourself at the outset are being achieved?
It seems to me that the chairman, minister and CEO need to take stock of the image that is being presented, and make some necessary decisions before things deteriorate further. No smile can be pretty enough or wide enough to cover up what seems like certain disaster.
