By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune News Editor

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement Michael Pintard once described a Junkanoo Authority as essential to realising the festival’s full potential.

As Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture in 2018, he said: “The view today… is that a Junkanoo Commission or Junkanoo Authority that has the overall responsibility… would give this community an opportunity to realise its potential more effectively.”

The vision of an authority is now at the heart of a national controversy.

This week, the Davis administration released a draft bill to establish a National Junkanoo Authority of The Bahamas, prompting fierce backlash from the Junkanoo Corporation of New Providence (JCNP), which suspended all parading activity in protest. The JCNP said the proposed legislation amounts to a reversal of its two decades of self-governance and warned of government overreach. Its letter to Culture Minister Mario Bowleg cited concerns about centralisation and alleged political interference tied to the long-standing Valley Boys leadership dispute.

The Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture has rejected the JCNP’s claims, calling the bill a continuation of long-standing efforts that date back nearly three decades. The ministry specifically invoked Mr Pintard’s record in defending the move. “This also builds on work started by now‑Leader of the Opposition, Michael Pintard, who both advocated for a national Junkanoo commission as far back as his time as Minister of Culture,” it said in a statement this week.

In 2018, Mr Pintard outlined a comprehensive plan for elevating Junkanoo from a seasonal celebration to a permanent cultural institution. He envisioned weeklong festivals, music competitions, expanded manufacturing, and greater youth and female leadership. He said Junkanoo had the potential to become a significant source of revenue, employment, and national pride, but only with a dedicated, professional structure behind it. He acknowledged the contributions of the JCNP, the National Junkanoo Committee, and his ministry, but said: “More is needed.”

He told The Tribune then that a commission or authority would provide the community with the leadership and capacity to grow.

“A decision [has been made] to create… a committee that would have the ability to put together draft legislation, a draft structure, and terms of reference, for such a commission or such an authority,” he said at the time.

The bill now under public consultation proposes a 15-member governing body appointed by the minister, representing stakeholders from New Providence, Grand Bahama, the Family Islands, and cultural institutions. It would regulate national parades, administer funding, issue licenses, manage a National Junkanoo Fund, and create for-profit subsidiaries. The bill would also dissolve the defunct National Junkanoo Committee and install local committees across the archipelago.

The JCNP, which has managed the New Providence parades since 2004, strongly objects to the bill’s scope and timing, and questions the motives behind it. Still, the government said it will move forward.

The ministry described the JCNP’s response as politically charged and premature, noting that the bill includes representation for groups across the country and has not yet reached the parliamentary stage.

“Junkanoo belongs to the Bahamian people, not to any single group or island,” the ministry said.

Mr Pintard has not commented on the details of the bill and could not be reached for comment yesterday regarding the Davis administration’s approach to introducing a Junkanoo Authority. But in response on Tuesday to the ministry’s decision to name him in the debate, he issued a brief public statement: “Don’t mix me up. Keep politics out of Junkanoo.”