Fifty-eight days after the inaugural Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival, Chairman of the Bahamas National Festival Commission Paul Major is set this morning to present Prime Minister Perry Christie with the financial report on the festival.

Major confirmed as much when contacted by National Review yesterday. He said he did not want to preempt what is in the report, but told us he was "very happy with the outcome". This report is long overdue. The Bahamian people have for weeks been waiting to learn just how their money was spent and how much money in fact was spent.

Government officials as well as Major had long gone silent on the issue.

Two days after carnival, Major said on Guardian Radio that a financial report will be completed in 21 days. That period passed twice with no such report presented to the Bahamian people and no explanation from those in authority about the delay. In light of reports of theft within the commission, we wondered whether there was a reluctance to make the report public, or if those completing the financials were having difficulties in reconciling those finances.

Reportedly, more than $30,000 was stolen through the issuance of two fraudulent checks. We have since learnt that the theft matter is unconnected to the report's completion. It is hard to understand why it would have taken more than a couple of weeks to report on carnival spending.

The boost the government received from carnival in May was significantly diminished by its failure to report quicker on how it spent public funds for the event, which spanned three days in New Providence and also a weekend in Grand Bahama.

On June 17, The Nassau Guardian reported that while $9 million was budgeted for carnival, the actual cost of the controversial festival was approximately $12 million. Reportedly, the grand finale concert in New Providence on May 9 and carnival weekend on Grand Bahama had not been factored into the $9 million budget.

Organizers had planned to end carnival with the Road Fever Parade on May 9. In the weeks ahead of carnival, Major said it would generate $50 million to $60 million or more in economic impact. It will be interesting to see what the report reflects in relation to that projection.

Christie previously said he felt vindicated by the "success" of carnival.

On May 11, we reported that while the prime minister and commission members were ecstatic about the turnout at the mega concert and other activities associated with carnival, we should be careful not to measure the success of the festival by the large numbers of Bahamians who turned out.

It was Major who told us during Bahamas Business Outlook in January that even if every Bahamian were to participate in carnival, the economy would not grow, as no new money would be coming in. It was not entirely surprising to see the significant numbers of people at Clifford Park for the mega concert. As we pointed out in our initial reporting on carnival, concert tickets were cheap, and most people love a good party.

On an island where options for local entertainment are limited, carnival provided a perfect opportunity to take advantage of a three-day party. When he announced plans for the festival in 2013, Christie said in the House of Assembly that the government viewed carnival as both a major economic intervention and cultural expansion.

"It will be essentially Bahamian, but also include thousands of visitors who will be attracted by what will be an absolutely fabulous affair," he said.

We also said on May 11 that while it was obvious to us that the government and the Bahamas National Festival Commission did not achieve their initially stated goal of driving significant numbers of visitors to The Bahamas for the event, it seems the success of carnival 2015 is that it has laid the foundation for something truly amazing.

Important still is the economic impact of the festival and whether value for money was achieved in the spending. Christie's administration is known for failing to account on many matters. We hope that the prime minister will move swiftly to make the carnival financial report public. It will be crucial in determining how to move forward with the next Junkanoo carnival.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian