90% of production team contracted COVID
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture is set to re-air an edited version of the “Spirit of Junkanoo” after widespread criticism from the public over the virtual presentation broadcast on New Year’s Day.
The hours-long virtual parade, which featured 14 Junkanoo groups in collaboration with the Junkanoo Corporation of New Providence (JCNP) and JCN Network, was aired on Facebook and ZNS on Saturday.
The Bahamian people are our customers. If they are unsatisfied, we apologize and we will do it right.
– Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg
The production, which has since been removed from the ministry’s Facebook page, was originally expected to air on Boxing Day but was pushed back to the weekend.
The ministry allocated some $300,000 for the initiative, including virtual presentations to be held on Grand Bahama and the Family Islands.
Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg yesterday defended the presentation but admitted there were several challenges, including 90 percent of the contracted production team testing positive for COVID-19 in the days leading up to the broadcast.
“There were challenges that they faced that cost the production not to be up to the standard that the ministry, JCN or the country at large would have liked to see it,” Bowleg told reporters outside Cabinet.
“We are correcting those challenges and we intend — once the stakeholders, the ministry and myself review the corrections of that production…we intend to air that again.
“The Bahamian people are our customers. If they are unsatisfied, we apologize and we will do it right — that’s the only thing we can do — and move on from there.”
The minister contended that the work was done by a well-known Bahamian company that was chosen by bid on the government’s e-procurement portal.
However, the ministry said due to circumstances beyond its control, the footage was not seen before the public airing.
Bowleg advised that the production company has until January 9 to deliver the corrected production, adding that he could not indicate when it will be re-aired.
“The ‘Spirit of Junkanoo’ was something [the] ministry and JCN decided that we wanted to do to bring back something to the Bahamian people which they were lacking for the last two years,” Bowleg added.
“The mere fact that we took the initiative to want to do such [a] thing and it was the first time done in the country, I am proud [of] my ministry and JCN for us to put something forth.”
Of the allocated amount, $24,000 was spent on production and $200 was spent on audio advertising, according to the ministry.
The Junkanoo groups that participated in the event were also granted stipends totaling $126,000 — $11,000 to seven Category A groups and $7,000 to seven Category B groups.
The remaining balance will be spent on the virtual parades for Grand Bahama and the Family Islands.
Bowleg said stakeholders on those islands are meeting to organize themselves and set a date for production and broadcast.
“We are going to be working along with one or two other production companies, along with this one and ZNS, to see if we could get the Family Island up and running pretty soon,” he said.
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