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Mexican funding for Institute of Creative Arts yet to be finalised
Earlier this year, Minister within the Ministry of Education with responsibility for Culture, Nicolette Henry had announced that the process has begun to establish an Institute of Creative Arts.
Minister Nicolette Henry
The funding for this project is to be provided by the Mexican government, however, according to Henry, the agreement to facilitate the funding is yet to be finalised.
On Wednesday, during the consideration of the estimates of revenue and expenditure for the 2017 budget, the Minister was asked to explain a $420M allocation for the design and construction of an Institute of Creative Arts.
Part of the project description includes the upgrading of facilities for the National School of Music and the provision of equipment including string band, surveillance system, computers, projectors, photocopiers, printer, camera, air conditioning unit and water dispenser.
Henry was reminded that part of the finances for this project would be supplied by the Mexican government at a value of US$2M. She was asked whether the agreement for this grant has ever been laid before the House, to which she replied in the negative.
She said that in fact, there is no written agreement between the government of Guyana and the Mexican government concerning the money. Henry assured the House that while there is no agreement to present in the House, the funding will be accessed through bilateral arrangements with the Mexican government.
Central government is expected to invest a total of $22M into the project and $52M should be spent in 2017; $30M of this is to be financed by foreign loans or grants. Henry told the House that her Ministry is currently pursuing to have the agreement finalised.
However, prior to actually having funding from the Mexican government, Henry said that preliminary work will be financed by funds from the government of Guyana.
She said that the construction of the building will take much longer than one year, and therefore additional expenditure will be reflected in future budgets.
At the launch of the National Drama Festival this year, Minister Henry said that in addition to funding from the Mexican government, other donors have expressed interest in providing support.
Henry said that the initiative came about over a year ago when she reached out to the diplomatic corps and some of her colleagues in government, particularly, Minister of Finance Winston Jordan and Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo.
Additionally, the Culture Minister had said that it is being considered to have the institute affiliated with the University of Guyana.
The Minister pledged that the government is committed to providing the space for persons interested in the arts to realise their potential in full. She said that every time talented persons go on stage they underline the importance of the performing arts.
She said that these persons are reminders to the government to support young talents. “The Arts is an important industry, critical to the enhancement of the nation’s socio-economic and political development.”
The project is expected to be completed within the next two to three years. According to the budget estimates which were approved on Wednesday, the project will span from January 2017 to December 2019.
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