Culture Minister Pledges Earlier Grant Funding For Religious And Cultural Groups
Minister of Culture and Community Development Michelle Benjamin has pledged to ensure that grant funding reaches religious and cultural organisations earlier, acknowledging frustrations over delays in this year’s cheque distribution process.
Speaking at the Community Action for Revival and Empowerment (CARE) Grant Distribution Ceremony at SAPA on Friday, Minister Benjamin apologised for the late disbursement of funds and said the Ministry is committed to improving the process moving forward.
« This grant distribution ceremony is somewhat late in some regards with regard to some of the religious observance that we are here to give out the cheques for. And for that I do apologise. But the commitment of the Ministry is to make sure that we do this in a timely manner. One thing that I experience and what is happening is that some of our cultural organisations, they are not duly registered. »
Minister Benjamin said the Ministry is working to address the administrative issues that contributed to the delays.
She urged churches, masjids, temples and community groups to register with the Ministry, explaining that the process was delayed partly because some organisations were not properly registered.
« A call from the Ministry is going to all our churches, all our masjids and all our temples to come and register with us, and all our community groups because what delayed this exercise here today, other than us waiting for the allocations with regards to budget, is that some of the organisations are not registered with Legal Affairs; some of them are standing on an old registration that they had directly with former incarnations of the Ministry, and some organisations have difficulty with regards to their bank. »
She also outlined plans to expand the range of programmes receiving support.
« I want to invest more into community family days. I want to invest more into Homework Centres because what happens after a child leaves school, that is important. What happens while Sunday brunch in church, that’s important. What happens after mosque is important. So help us reach your membership as well. »
More than 50 cheques were distributed under the Community Action for Revival and Empowerment (CARE) Programme, which provides funding to community, cultural and faith-based organisations.
