The Virgin Parish Cultural Organization (VPCO) has over the years seen increased participation from revelers for its Carnival Tuesday J’ouvert activity in St. David.
But as the numbers increase, so too is their operating overhead cost to run the various carnival activities.
The committee has sought to be proactive this year and has started planning early to ensure that the product is enhanced to ensure its sustainability.
As a result, the committee along with parliamentary representative Oliver Joseph, RGPFf and representative of Spicemas Corporation (SMC) met with stakeholders at the Corinth Government School on April 25 to hear their concerns.
Treasurer for the committee, Joseph Ragbasingh, said although not incurring a significant loss during the 2018 carnival period in St David, the committee was still left in the red by over 9 thousand dollars after carnival.
He said the committee must be able to raise funds independently, in order to offset the cost of staging various carnival events.
Noting last year’s deficit, Parliamentary Representative for St David, Oliver Joseph, reiterated that the committee must raise additional funds on its own and not depend solely upon government subvention.
During the meeting, there were a number of concerns raised on traffic congestion and food safety.
The committee is also heavily considering changing the route for the St David Jouvert.
The proposed change was to start from Lambert Bridge to Pomme Rose junction, instead of starting from the Lambert Bridge to Bellevue.
Chairman of the committee Neil Williams said these recommendations and concerns will be reviewed by the committee.
