President Irfaan Ali yesterday announced that the government will double the earnings made by local artistes in the One Guyana Concert during this year’s Cricket Carnival at the National Stadium, Providence.
A press release from the Office of the President [OP] said that local artistes who met Ali yesterday at State House were informed by the President that the Government will continue to make the needed investments to further propel and develop the entertainment industry.
“We had 89 local artistes on the One Guyana stage, 89 local artistes. The cost of the production was borne completely by the Government. We brought in the corporate sponsors to get them to sponsor tickets. Every single cent in revenue, $6.9m went to those 89 artistes ranging from between $100,000 to $300,000, as promised”, the President said.
The release said that to complement those earnings and to ensure that the artistes fully benefit, the Government will provide an equivalent $6.9m. President Ali also pointed out that the concert had an online viewership of more than 100,000.
“I want to say to you that we continue to be your partner in your own development, in the development of our culture, the development of your talents and the promotion of ‘One Guyana’ as a destination that is not only diverse by people and culture but is rich in talent and ready to explode on the international stage”, he said.
Ali also used the opportunity to express his delight in the development of local talent. “I wanted to tell you today how very proud I am of Guyanese talent…Our talent might still be raw and fresh in many ways, but we never and will never lack the capacity and capability to make it on any stage. And I intend to invest in talent that we have, to make it regional and global.” The OP release cited the President as saying that the Government ‘has been able to build a product that brings economic prosperity and artistic and cultural development”, he stated.
Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond; Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr; Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister, Kwame McCoy and other Government officials were also at the meeting.
