Goddard’s nation spirit gift

The partnership between Government and the private sector continues to bear fruit with the donation of a $10 000 sponsorship cheque to offset the expenses for the official launch of this year’s Community Independence Celebrations.  The funds were presented to Minister of Community Development and Culture Steve Blackett this week by director of human resources at Goddard Enterprises Limited, Dr Ashwell Thomas, at the ministry’s office at Warrens, St Michael.In thanking the company for its generosity, the minister said the donation would “go a long way to assisting the ministry in its efforts to keep the Independence celebrations at the forefront of [the minds of] all Barbadians”.  Meanwhile, national co-ordinator Curtis Gibbons expressed satisfaction with the strides which the programme had made since its inception 15 years ago.In light of this, he hinted that changes might be coming on stream to make the production more exciting. “Obviously there were some changes to the programme since its inception in 1995. However, I believe that there are more changes to come, but this is subject to further discussion with the stakeholders later this year.” He conceded that the Community Independence Celebrations Secretariat’s budget of $550 000 had been slashed by $10 000 and as a consequence, some of the planned programmes had to be shelved.“There were a number of programmes which the department wanted to put on, but due to the financial situation, we were unable to implement them. However, we will utilise the resources that we have at our disposal to make the event a success,” he stressed. He added: “We are ready to go … the ambassadors are in place, the Parish Independence Committees, who were elected earlier this year, are gearing up to go, and all of the projects are going according to plan.”The launch of the 2010 Community Independence programme, under the theme Celebrating Our Heritage: Proud To Be A Bajan, will be held next Saturday, August 28, at the Jackie Opel Amphitheatre, General Post Office, Bridgetown. (BGIS)