PHILIPSBURG:--- The St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) has cancelled the outsourcing agreement it sign a year ago with Raw Promotions to host the Nagico Senior Calypso Competition. The foundation took the decision during its annual evaluation of the Carnival season.
Noting that some positive steps were taken by Raw Promotions such as its website for calypso and historical perspectives, the SCDF said the very public issues between Raw and title sponsor Nagico, compounded by other organizational problems, led to the decision to cancel the outsourcing agreement.
The foundation said there are matters regarding the calypso competition that will be handled internally, but stressed that confidence in Raw from the calypsonians has been too far eroded to allow the situation to continue.
Additionally, “it was embarrassing to the foundation to have one of our most dedicated corporate sponsors (Nagico) dragged into a public debate in the same year the foundation chose to honor that company. It was not what the foundation expected or can tolerate,” SCDF said.
The SCDF made it clear that all financial obligations that Raw committed itself to, remains the responsibility of Raw. “The foundation will not assume responsibility and will not be held liable for any outstanding monies, agreements or the sort that Raw has committed itself to. We took the decision because we believe it is best for Calypso and to protect long-standing relationships. Raw Promotions is still responsible for its obligations to calypsonians and others,” the SCDF said.
The foundation did disclose that there are other parties interested in organizing the Calypso Competition and discussions will take place soon, with lessons learnt from this most recent incident. “Calypso is the heart and soul of Carnival. The foundation wants to involve as many stakeholders in Carnival as possible which is why we outsource certain events. But if we see the event heading in a troublesome direction, we will intervene if the intervention is absolutely necessary. In this case it was,” the foundation said.
