MINISTER of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony on Wednesday expressed sincere gratitude to Republic Bank (Guyana) Ltd for its donation of $1.3M to the steel pan development programme being held under the Ministry. 

At the handing-over ceremony at the Ministry of Culture, Dr. Anthony stated that the Government is greatly pleased with the collaboration with the Republic Bank, especially with regard to the steel pan programme, and their integral involvement with the Mashramani competition over the past few years.

‘We see this as an investment in young people’ – Minister of Culture

“We see this as an investment in young people and we’ve seen already in such a short time the end results,” Minister Anthony said.
He also noted that the Ministry has been doing this over the years and there has been an increase in the number of participants since the Music School was initiated two years ago, offering structured training besides other necessary coaching.
The target for this programme is approximately 150 applicants given that a large number of secondary school students who reside in Linden, West Demerara, Berbice and other areas will be participating.
Meanwhile, Jonelle Dummett of the Communications and Public Relations Department of Republic Bank pledged their continuous support towards promoting cultural activities, particularly in the steel pan community. She said that this is the bank’s way of fulfilling its mission of making a difference in communities that they serve.
“This is the fifth year and over 600 students have been trained and we are happy that we can provide an avenue for young people to explore their talents and develop that art form,” said Ms. Dummett.
Band Manager and pannist, Andrew Tyndall expressed his delight with the steel pan initiative and the collaboration since he noted that with Republic Bank as the ‘willing partner,’ the bank has been resuscitating the programme to ensure that the art form survives, and training is vital in this respect.
“Over the five years we have trained over 600 young people and we would’ve seen the benefits of that training because we’ve had an increase in the number of steel pan competitions,” stated Mr. Tyndall.
In the meantime, the Ministry of Culture continues to provide more outreach programmes to expand cultural diversity in Guyana. It also hopes to provide special programmes for 8,000 to 9,000 persons during the camping period in August.

(By Shivanie Sugrim)