Several persons who are still awaiting payments for various services they provided for the Carifesta festivities, protested yesterday morning in front of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport on Main Street.
Led by veteran actor Ron Robinson, the placard-bearing protesters were adamant that they needed to be paid. They expressed frustration in the way officials at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport were treating them and said that they deserved better.
When Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr Frank Anthony was contacted for comment, he said his ministry was well aware of the issue and was working to get it solved as quickly as possible. He said the ministry had a list of persons who needed to be paid and those persons who had undertaken capital projects for the event will be paid by Wednesday or Thursday of this week. The others, he said, should be paid within the next two weeks.
Meanwhile, Robinson said the government hailed this year’s Carifesta celebration as a great success and he emphasized that the only reason the event could have been declared a success was because of the efforts of the artists. He said that having participated in the first Carifesta held in 1972, this experience has left him slightly bitter because he was expecting better.
Another protestor was Gerald Gittens, who designed the jaguar, which was arguably one of the few highlights at the opening ceremony. He said that had agreed to do this task for three reasons: including his love for the arts and Carifesta and because he wanted to show the other Caribbean people that Guyanese were capable of creating something of significance. He said that he had to pay his staff out of his own money while he is still awaiting his payment. Gittens said that he was supposed to travel to the USA to acquire some items to prepare for next year’s Mashramani celebrations but was not able to do so because he was not paid promptly. It is now very unlikely that he will participate in the Mash celebrations, he added.
Playwright Barrington Braithwaite, who conceptualized the idea behind Guyana’s signature dramatic piece The Legend of the Silk Cotton Tree, was also very upset about not being paid. And he says that he is considering legal action against the ministry. Braithwaite also said that it is clear that the government has no respect for artists, and highlighted the fact that the artists were not even invited to the Regional Task Force on Cultural Industries held at the Caricom Secretariat last week.
Danielle Duncan was representing her daughter Natalia Fredericks who is still awaiting the full payment of her salary. According to the visibly upset parent, her daughter was taken to Linden where she assisted with set designing. Duncan was also upset at the lack of concern shown to her daughter during the event. She said early one morning when her daughter was being transported from Linden they did not even have the decency to drop her at her home in Diamond Housing Scheme. “At 3 in the morning, my daughter was dropped off at the head of the scheme and left to fend for herself,” she said angrily.
While the group was protesting Permanent Secretary within the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport Keith Booker drove into the compound but did not say anything to the protestors. When he was subsequently approached by the media for comment, he declined to do so.
The protestors said they would not be discouraged and plan to continue their protest on Friday.
