A long-awaited breakdown of CARIFESTA XV’s multi-million-dollar price tag will be released only after all vendors have been paid, Prime Minister Mia Mottley has announced, rebuffing critics who claim her government is deliberately hiding the true cost of the event.
Speaking at the Barbados Labour Party’s St George North constituency branch annual general meeting on Sunday, Mottley addressed the transparency questions that have trailed the ten-day festival, while also providing an update on measures to secure its legacy at the former CARIFESTA Village.
“There will be a proper accounting for the expenditure of CARIFESTA, but to rush and give anybody the figures when they are still processing and paying vendors would be an act of recklessness and irresponsibility,” she said.
The Prime minister’s assurances come amid sustained public and opposition critics’ calls for the release of the numbers.
Last week, Stephen Lashley, a former culture minister in the Freundel Stuart administration, accused the government of “scandalous” secrecy over the cost of hosting CARIFESTA XV, even as he praised the festival.
He said the government failed a basic test of disclosure by not stating the budget from the outset and matching it to the final spend at the end. He compared last month’s staging to the 2017 edition hosted under the then Democratic Labour Party administration, stating that the festival cost about $8 million and focused on upgrading existing facilities such as Queen’s Park, schools and tertiary campuses.
Lashley also argued the 2025 approach relied on costly temporary structures at Waterford and Newton that required rushed, expensive works.
“The whole facility was a rush job… the cost of getting through it was enormous,” he had said.
“When you have to rush like that, you are going to be paying premium dollars, and premium taxpayers’ funds are going to be utilised.”
But Mottley pushed back at comparisons with previous editions, referring to the 1981 festival under the administration of Tom Adams, which reportedly racked up a $24 million bill at the time.
“$24 million in 1981 in today’s value is $97.6 million. I can assure you that we didn’t spend $97.6 million,” she said.
On the festival’s legacy, the Prime Minister defended the importance of the infrastructure, particularly to the creative industry, confirming that the initially temporary CARIFESTA House at Waterford will be retained and upgraded for permanent usage.
She acknowledged complaints about heat at midday events and said a proper ventilation system will be installed.
Mottley further shared that the government is looking to purchase a permanent stage for the site with the intention of avoiding recurring rental costs.
Cabinet is also considering options to expand parking to serve the National Stadium, the National Botanical Gardens and the CARIFESTA House, with potential park-and-ride links to venues including Kensington Oval and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Mottley did not give a date for publication of the full accounts, maintaining that vendors must be paid first and that the figures would follow. (SM)
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