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Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

Questions raised on firms awarded festival contracts

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Go Big Events would like to set the record straight in response to the front page article “Questions raised on firms awarded festival contracts” which appeared in the Herald on Friday, April 6.

Steps are being taken to have Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism (NMBT) amend the report in order to correct the inaccuracies. The organisation could have spared itself the embarrassment of retracting the statements in the “draft close out report” had it given Go Big the opportunity to respond before the report was made public.

These are the facts:

  1. Go Big was not responsible for the removal of decor during one of the season”s closing shows in the yacht club. As was communicated with NMBT staff in an e-mail after the show, these were suppliers contracted to a separate service provider, Adrap. Go Big Events had no control over the Adrap or its suppliers as they were separately contracted by NMBT. Questions are being asked about why this response did not find its way into the report.
  2. As to the claim that Go Big Events staff were “walking around in slippers in the VIP area,” we would welcome concrete evidence and witnesses to this incident. We must emphasise that Go Big staff were not at the event in question, as it was organised by another service provider.
  3. Similarly, we are requesting that NMBT substantiate the claim that “everything being produced was of lesser quality than other event organisers”. This claim has no substantiation, and shows a lack of understanding of event management. Such vague claims do not have a place in a report of this nature. Without substantiation and evidence, questions must be raised around the motives of the compilers of the report.
  4. The fact is that Go Big Events was awarded the contract to handle Splash 2012 due, in part, to the quality of the events it delivered during the Summer Season. The many thousands who attended Splash 2012 will attest to the fact that it was a well organised and run event, despite the award of the tender less than a month before Easter.
  5. One of the questions we are raising is why the report was released on the eve of the Splash Festival. The timing may or may not be coincidental.
  6. While we cannot speak on behalf of Event Hire in response to the claims that they “profited to the tune of R1,3-million,” Go Big Events can confirm that all the correct channels were followed. Full proof of expenditure was given to NMBT.
  7. As for the claim that Go Big Events “profited handsomely” from the Summer Season events, the fact is that the money was spent on employing local SMMEs, providing VIP facilities for councillors and other dignitaries, legal fees – all of which is detailed in the proof of expenditure given to NMBT in January 2012.

Go Big and its representatives are asking why these facts were not included in the “draft close-out report”.

Greg Moses
Go Big Events

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