By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

OPPOSITION Leader Michael Pintard has urged the government to let the Junkanoo Corporation of New Providence (JCNP) manage this year’s Boxing Day and New Year’s Day parades, warning that it is too late in the season to make major changes.

He said a national Junkanoo conclave should be held in January to address deeper issues dividing the community, including parade management, land grants for groups, multipurpose shacks, and manufacturing hubs for instruments and materials.

He criticised the government’s decision to transfer control of the national parades from the JCNP to the National Junkanoo Committee (NJC), calling the move politically heavy-handed and unrepresentative of the wider Junkanoo community. He said the government should “step back and listen” to Junkanooers instead of dictating the future of the tradition.

“Junkanoo is one of the greatest expressions of Bahamian identity,” he said. “It belongs to no government, no politician, no political party. It belongs to the Bahamian people, especially those who have built, sustained and protected it for generations.”

Mr Pintard noted that the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture’s decision was based on a poll that several major Junkanoo leaders have disputed, describing it as selective and flawed. He said the government’s approach risks deepening mistrust among practitioners.

He pointed to a previous national Junkanoo conclave held nearly a decade ago under his leadership as Minister of Culture, which produced recommendations for a public-private commission led primarily by practitioners.

Mr Pintard said he supports improving the government’s proposed National Junkanoo Authority Bill, which has sparked controversy for proposing a statutory body to regulate funding and parade management.

“We are prepared to go through it and share our views to make sure that the authority or commission that emerges is Junkanoo practitioner-centred and not dominated by government,” he said. “That was the original intent. Let’s get back to that.”

His remarks followed Youth, Sports and Culture Minister Mario Bowleg’s announcement that a new 15-member Parade Management Committee, chaired by veteran Junkanooer Douglas Hanna, will oversee this year’s national parades.

Mr Bowleg said the decision reflected the will of the majority, insisting the government had no contractual obligation to the JCNP. “In a democratic society, the majority rules,” he said. “The groups went in and in a democratic process and made a decision on their own.”

Mr Pintard said the focus should be on ensuring the parades run smoothly and that any major changes should be made after the season through broad consultation.

“We are in a war of words a few months from the parade itself,” he said. “We don’t need the uncertainty. People plan schedules around the end of the year, and more importantly, the government and all stakeholders need to sit down and determine a strategic plan for Junkanoo. What is happening now is not advancing that.”