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Culture and Community Development Minister Michelle Benjamin, centre in back row, with the recipients of grants under the ministry's CARE, and National Days and Festival Fund programmes at SAPA, San Fernando on July 30. - Photo by Innis FrancisCULTURE and Community Development Minister Michelle Benjamin says grants being given to community and cultural groups must be used for the purposes for which they are intended.
She made this comment during a grant distribution ceremony for recipients of her ministry's CARE grant and the National Days and Festivals Fund at the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts (SAPA), San Fernando on July 30.
The ceremony saw the distribution of $898,000 in grants to 22 recipients in the ministry's CARE scheme and $2.5 million worth in grants to 19 recipients in the National Days and Festivals Fund initiative. In total, $3,398,000 worth in grants were given to 41 recipients.
Benjamin said government is committed to building a system that allows community and cultural groups to have easier and more reliable access to funds. But she reminded recipients the issuance of these grants comes with responsibilities especially as they are from the public purse.
"I trust and I expect that these grants will be used wisely for their intended purpose," she told the gathering.
Benjamin hoped the work for which the grants are being provided "will reflect the integrity and vision with which those proposals were submitted."
Recently, the Emancipation Support Committee (ESCTT) criticised a statement issued by the ministry which questioned that committee's operations.
In a statement on July 29, the committee said, "This statement is very far from the truth. The ESCTT has held itself to the highest levels of accountability, submitting annual Audited accounts, from an approved government auditor, up to 2023."
The committee added, "Annual Returns and a Festival Management Report are submitted at the completion of each Festival, these are duly submitted and acknowledged as received and accepted by the Ministry of Culture,"
In the ministry's release, Benjamin said, "From the inception of our discussion, my ministry, albeit only three months old, has been concerned with the manner in which the ESCTT has spent the allocations received and its tangible returns to the public.”
Benjamin said these were not criticisms for criticism’s sake but “necessary truths.”
“We cannot allow complacency to hold our culture hostage. The vision must evolve, or it risks fading into irrelevance Benjamin did not comment on the ESCTT's statement during or after the ceremony on July 30.
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