By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

ATTORNEY General Ryan Pinder has defended the Davis administration’s proposed Junkanoo Authority Bill, calling it a necessary step toward formalising the national cultural festival and expanding economic opportunities for Bahamian creatives.

Speaking at a recent press briefing, Mr Pinder said the bill would be debated in the House of Assembly on August 6 and will establish an independent National Junkanoo Authority with representatives from New Providence, Grand Bahama, and the Family Islands.

He said the structure is based on models like Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival Commission and aims to make Junkanoo a year-round industry.

“We’re looking at the same thing,” he said. “This Junkanoo Commission, or Junkanoo Authority, is to provide an independent framework to take Junkanoo further than Bay Street.”

Mr Pinder said the bill complements recent changes to intellectual property law that give stronger legal protections to artists and performers, enabling them to benefit financially from their work.

“That’s really what this is about,” he said. “To have the expertise and authority to do that.”

He denied that the government was trying to disempower existing groups like the Junkanoo Corporation of New Providence (JCNP).

“This isn’t any attempt to pull any authority or to destroy any Junkanoo Corporation,” he said. “What we have done is we have added the Grand Bahama Junkanoo Corporation on the authority, and we’re looking to create a Family Island Junkanoo Corporation.”

He said consultations would continue during Parliament’s summer break and expects the bill to be among the first passed when sittings resume.

The JCNP, which has managed New Providence’s major Junkanoo parades since 2004, voted unanimously last Monday to suspend all Junkanoo-related activities, including Emancipation Day events, practices, rush-outs, and side parades, until further notice. The JCNP said the decision followed a special meeting of leaders from registered A, B, and D Division groups, held in response to the introduction of the National Junkanoo Authority of The Bahamas Bill, 2025.

Under the proposed bill, the new National Junkanoo Authority would consist of 15 members appointed by the minister. These include representatives from the JCNP, the National Junkanoo Committee, the Grand Bahama Junkanoo Corporation, the Family Island Junkanoo Corporation, various government agencies, cultural institutions, and one person deemed most representative of persons involved in Junkanoo music. Ten additional members would serve in an ex officio capacity.