Trinidad and Tobago Promoters Association (TTPA) advocate Paige De Leon has pointed out that the proposition made by the Trinidadian government to safely reopen the entertainment sector will only benefit a few.
De Leon also noted that having a constant dialogue with the Trinidadian Government has brought forth no yielding results and as such no progress has been made.
“It has been ongoing for many, many months,” she said. “What is being proposed is no different from what was obtained one year ago. We made no progress,” De Leon argued.
“Five weeks to the end of carnival 2022 season, we are not in a position to collaborate in general with the plans that were presented to us,” De Leon stressed.
“It is the point of the members of the TTPA that it is too late, the carnival ship has sailed. What has been proposed, only benefits those who get government subventions and fall under the arm of the financial protection of the state and we do not,” De Leon added.
De Leon further added that the TTPA has never been a beneficiary of the government subventions and that there is no intention to start now.
She, however, noted that it is high time for the inclusion of new systems as the old ones are no longer working.
“We asked that the private sector, as part of Trinidad and Tobago’s economic landscape, be opened to vaccinated people not for a few weeks to facilitate state-sponsored events at state-owned venues but so the business of events can begin again with vaccinated persons,” De Leon noted.
“We ask for vaccinated-only outdoor events to resume. It is accepted that outdoor gathering is much safer than indoor gathering, so we are confused about the motivation here and ask for clarity on the reckoning of this policy,” De Leon added.
Meanwhile, the TTPA has also pointed out that countries like Barbados and St Lucia, which have health sectors and vaccination rates that are similar to Trinidad and Tobago, have successfully and safely reopened their entertainment sector. This, the TTPA argues, is quite baffling as the Government of Trinidad and Tobago should consider starting small.
