Minister of Culture, Stephen Lashley (right), greeting members of the congregation at the 2017 Crop Over Thanksgiving Service at the Vauxhall Methodist Church, yesterday.
Minister of Culture, Stephen Lashley, is assuring the Barbados Association of Masqueraders (BAM) that all their issues raised will be looked into by both the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) and himself.
Yesterday, addressing the 2017 Crop Over Thanksgiving Service at the Vauxhall Methodist Church, Adams Castle, Christ Church, said that he is aware of BAM’s issues and will certainly work with them to solve any outstanding matters.
“They are among our valued partners and we treat all of our valued partners with tremendous respect,” he expressed to the congregation.
Earlier this month, BAM’s President Chetwin Stewart told the media to expect some protest action on Kadooment Day if several issues facing bandleaders are not addressed urgently by the NCF and respective Ministries. These include: reduction of VAT; subvention increases; and being able to benefit from the Cultural Industries Act.
Noting that the Crop Over Festival has been controversy free over the past six years, Lashley promises that where there are issues, they will be solved very quickly.
“We value the contribution of all our partners in the Festival and I always say that when we have issues, we will sit down and we will work them out,” he stressed.
This year’s festival will be celebrated under the theme ‘Catch the Feeling’. According to the Culture Minister, “This is a theme that feeds the very spirit of the Festival. It seeks of course to invoke that very jovial and infectious feeling that is simply unexplainably contagious and which ignites a unity among us.”
Lashley further acknowledged that Crop Over brings tremendous economic benefit to Barbados’ economy, in excess of US$50 million.
“I agree that all of the players who help to ensure that Crop Over can be the kind of outstanding and successful Festival that it is – all of our partners and supporters should be a part and share in that kind of economic benefit.
“Even outside the standard calendar of the NCF, there is a growing calendar of events by private promoters that continue to grow. I want to salute the contribution of our private partners in continuing to provide the kind of variety that this Festival has certainly benefited from outside the traditional events,” he added. (TL)