Culture Minister: Carifesta performers to get cheques by Jan

MINISTER of Culture and the Arts Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly says everyone who worked for the recently-held Carifesta will be paid by January. She said the ministry had started paying people in batches.

"During the month of October, we at the ministry had a mandatory break for the budget and in November we started paying performers.”

She was speaking with reporters on Sunday at the Longdenville, Chaguanas home of Princess William who celebrated her 106th birthday.

Gadsby-Dolly said hundreds have already collected their cheques and she hopes the balance will be disbursed by next month.

She blamed the delay on the fact that there were mistakes in the spelling of some names, and the fact that many of the performers had their managers collect their cheques.

On another note, Gadsby-Dolly was asked what her ministry has put in place to provide entertainment for cruise ship visitors who arrived in Port of Spain in December.

She replied: “I am not Minister of Tourism and would not want to speak on this since it is something the tourism ministry should address.” The culture ministry, she said, spearheaded a Christmas Village at the Queen’s Park Savannah in Port of Spain, seven days before Christmas and there were lots of local products available for foreigners in terms of food and music.

She said there has never been a formal collaboration between the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Tourism. “This is a feature of the government's new project policy which we have been piloting and will be launching in 2020.”