{EDITOR’s NOTE: In this special Release, there is a copy of a which is Downloadable and can be found at various points, apart from the Group’s Facebook page – if you want to twist the ear of your respective MP in relation to this matter? Please feel free!}

wishes to inform the public that despite a very one sided debate, the current Cultural Industries Development Bill (CIDB) is of great concern to many of the creatives of this country. Our Group comprising of 1251 members, along with many experts (both here on island and overseas) plus lauded artists in Barbados feel that the Bill in its current form is not worthy of passage in our Parliament.

Despite repeated attempts to , numerous requests to the Ministry and Stephen Lashley – Minister of Culture; Public Objections to this Bill in many of the Public Town Halls and Forums, yet we continue to be rebuffed and ignored. We have submitted documents to Adriel Brathwaite – the Attorney General, listing our objections with the bill, carefully and meticulously pointing out the ways in which it will fail to develop the Cultural Industries in any manner whatsoever, and in an effort to maintain absolute transparency, these documents have also been discussed with Mia Mottley – the Leader of the Opposition and Santia Bradshaw – the Shadow Minister of Culture.

Our concerns are many and we list just some of them: lack of transparency, archaic guidelines for structuring of a board, the manner of designation of ” status, the allowance for Government entities to apply for funding, excessive powers vested in the Minister, and that would be ANY Minister who may hold the position in the future.

There is also a glaring lack of synergy between other Ministries and Sectors of this Nation within the Bill, which only further highlights how ineffective this Bill will be, and how little serious thought appears to have been applied to its structure. In today’s world, we at the very least expect the Ministries of Education, Tourism, Foreign Affairs & Trade to be involved, as it should be blatantly obvious how essential such inclusion would be for the continued development, spread & support of the industry in order to reach and sustain an international standard.

We reject any notion that this Bill should be passed for reasons such as “it’s a start” or that “it can be amended later“. This Bill is too important to be passed or rushed for any reason.

Our objections did not start recently. This is a battle that we and many like us have been fighting for the last 15 + months. We invite the public and the press to view all of our objections and files sent onto Government at our Facebook Group Page. There is a ‘file‘ section at top of the group page which has all suggested amendment papers worked on these last 15 months.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Concernedcreativecitizens/

We urge you to make your voices heard, and to join us in our objection to the passage of this Bill.