WATCHING THE SEEMINGLY interminable train wreck that was the free concert at Kensington Oval on Independence night, I found it hard to understand why any promoter would bring together so many talented artistes and then just make them appear one after the other with no seeming rhyme or rhythm, apart from what they themselves brought to the stage.
And then I realised this was a production of the Dolittle administration, because, well, there were just so many signs.
For example, who would think of running a show with pre-recorded voice-overs in between acts instead of a live emcee telling you what’s coming up and communicating why it’s appropriate for the moment?
Well, it does fit a pattern if your leader spends most of his time being invisible and silent on almost every major issue facing the country.
And what precedent could there be for leading the whole confusing parade of old-timers to a logical climax with lively Crop Over artistes only, just when you hoped it was now finally over, to come back for a second term – sorry, act – with a whole lot of the same old thing?
And who would think of putting most of the focus not just on the past, but on a specific time in the past, that is, the late 60s and early 70s, what with 50 years of celebrating to choose from? Now let me see, was that the heyday, the glory years if you will, of some particular party?
And what about comedy acts? Why didn’t any joke-telling take place on that nostalgic stage? Not appropriate, you say? When Barbadian humour, thanks to Facebook, YouTube and other parts of the Internet has created a platform for young comedic talents like Seth Xcel Bovell, Nadia Phillips and Porgie & Murda to finally put Bajan comedy on par with any around the world? Was it because the humourless Dolittle administration did not want to take any chances on becoming the butt of any joke?
Obviously, not everybody who might have been asked would have been able to appear, but that is why you get an emcee to put the whole thing in context; to tell you who’s coming on, maybe why someone isn’t, and to put the whole thing in a package with a beginning, middle and end. Trust me, it’s been done before.
Instead, all we got was a lucky dip of musical performances, with many of the artistes seeming to lack a real connection with the event, but I don’t blame them for that: They were brought on cold and left the stage only slightly warmer.
And before I leave this topic, let me just say that for my money (right), the person who stole the show was Wendy Alleyne. Almost every other artiste from our musical past seemed to be just doing a cameo. Many of them were, since they may not be performing these days. But Alleyne, I understand, still performs, primarily on cruise ships. Maybe that is part of the reason, but although she only had one number (Midnight Blue) she transcended the evening. I read she did the same thing at her concert a few days earlier as well.
But while I might criticise the Government for doing so little to give a sense of direction to an aimless and seemingly endless musical production, you should not think that the Stuart administration only does little by way of omission. On the contrary, for it is far too politically savvy for that. It also does very little by commission, and nothing illustrates this better than its lack of action in creating a level platform for hoteliers trying to compete with Sandals.
The Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association’s outgoing chief executive officer, Sue Springer, told the group’s quarterly meeting last week that no resolution had as yet been reached with the Government on duty-free concessions on food.
As you may recall, in order to pull off its coup in getting Sandals International to agree to come here in 2013, the Dolittle administration had to give concessions that included a 25-year waiver of all taxes and duties and all value added tax on services related to the construction or refurbishment of Sandals and Beaches hotels.
Sandals International also got similar exemptions for vehicles and the personal effects for expatriate staff. And when the 25 years are up, all those taxes will be imposed at half of whatever rates are still in force by then.
Of course, the question arises, why should any rates be enforced not only at that future time, but right now, on the other players in the industry if you are already giving them to one? This is the basis of the demands of the rest of the sector.
Government agreed with this in principle and even showed good faith by amending the Tourism Development Act to allow all hotels to import food, beverages and consumables free of duties and taxes, in order to create a level playing field.
And then the Dolittle-ing started. Up to June this year, Springer reported, the tax breaks only applied to imported alcoholic beverages and proteins, including meats and fish. Even items that cannot be sourced locally, including some cheeses, are yet to be added to the package of tax-free concessions, she noted.
You would think that a Government which agreed to do something would do its best to make it happen. But you would be mistaken. The Dolittle administration seems to embrace the concept of passive resistance.
And while this is usually deflected from its perpetrators as simply, you know, the inefficient bureaucracy of the Government which must replaced by a one-stop shop for this or that (cue Donville Inniss), sometimes you wonder if it really isn’t the actual policy itself at work.