Creative sector gets covid19 relief govt grants

The time has come to re-think and re-engineer how business is done in the cultural and tourism sectors, says new Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts Randall Mitchell.

He made this comment as he gave out the first of the government's cultural relief grants.

A media release said the first batch of 348 cheques is ready for artistes and others in the creative sector.

One of the earliest recipients was calypsonian “Singing Sonia” Francis. Mitchell presented Francis with a cheque at the Lord Kitchener Auditorium, National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA) on August 25. She expressed gratitude to the Government for its vision and foresight in providing timely assistance to artistes.

The release quoted Mitchell as saying, “Covid19 has severely hit our tourism and cultural industries both locally and internationally. Several carnivals, sporting activities and traditional tourist attractions have had to temporarily halt operations.”

But, he said, “TT is a country whose festivals and arts uniquely defines this cultural melting pot and as such our artistes and creatives must be supported as part of the architecture of brand TT.”

The grant was launched on July 10 under the former Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts headed by Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly

It is a “one-off compassionate emergency relief grant to artistes and creatives who lost income due to cancelled exhibitions, classes, conferences, workshops and other cultural-related events, as a result of the measures taken to slow the spread of covid19."

The release said as of August 21, 897 artistes had applied for the grant. More than half had been approved and another 221 were pending approval. The committee gets an average of 20 applications daily. Recipients were called from August 25 and told when and where they could collect their grant relief cheque.

The grant was one of three initiatives approved by Cabinet to aid the cultural sector in light of the covid19 pandemic. The other initiatives are a 50 per cent reduction in rental cost of all state-owned performing spaces until December 31. and a government-sponsored SME stimulus loan facility.

“The loan facility is designed to help micro, small and medium-sized businesses with no repayment of the principal for two years and the government repaying the interest,” the release said.