The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

THE success of the inaugural Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival proves only that the Progressive Liberal Party can throw a good party, Democratic National Alliance Leader Branville McCartney said yesterday warning that the Christie administration is “trying to distance themselves” from its failures as a government.

“Yes the event was successful and the organisers deserve a lot of credit for putting on such a tremendous event, but we still have a country to run,” said the former Bamboo Town representative.

“There is still a crime problem, there are still high numbers in unemployment, Baha Mar still has major issues – there is no light at the end of this tunnel the PLP is guiding us down.

“The PLP has always been good at throwing parties, look at their rallies. They have always been terrible at governance.”

He indicated that when the “euphoric feeling of carnival” fades away and the reality of the many of the issues facing the Bahamian society reemerge, “it will be easy to conclude that the PLP government has done very little to move the nation forward”.

He added: “I liken the Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival event to BAMSI, it is a beautiful initiative but due to the lack of transparency and accountability that exists in this PLP administration, it is hard to gauge its success.

“As a party, the DNA stands in support of this event and when we become the government we will work to enhance, build on and make this event better.”

The DNA leader claimed that if elected, his party would not “throw carnival away like the PLP did with the FNM’s mentorship programme,” adding that the DNA will use the event to promote the Bahamas and develop the country’s tourism product.

He said: “We will use it and give credit, if there is something working for a country, any progressively thinking group will use it and find ways to improve it.”

Mr McCartney said that initially he had issues with the proposed scope of carnival. He claimed that the investment of $9m into a festival with little to no guarantee for return on that funding made no sense due to the country’s economic status.

“What I had proposed is for $9m, I would have preferred that we created an entire industry that keeps persons employed for 365 days per year,” he said.

“I stated my issues in the beginning, but when the government pressed forward with their plans I stood up and said that I wanted it to be a success. At that point for me it was beyond a party debate, it had become a Bahamian initiative, a country’s investment of $9m so I wanted it to be as successful as possible.

“Presently, whether it was a success financially or not, I can’t say. There hasn’t been a clear mention of how much was really spent on Junkanoo Carnival so it is hard to gauge how much was made from it.

“We have to be careful not to forget everything we our faced with as a country.”

He added that Bahamians should not be swayed by the PLP’s grand celebration because the major issues still exist.

“Leading up to the 2012 election they threw the biggest rallies, made a lot of promises – don’t let this party crowd the issues.”

On Sunday, Bahamas National Festival Commission officials said it was too early to say exactly how many attended or participated in the event or to assess its overall economic impact.