Inadequate funding affects running of cultural centres - Directors

Directors of Regional Centres for National Culture (CNCs) have expressed concern about the poor funding and infrastructural challenges confronting the centres.

They said the current situation had worked against the smooth work at the centres and, therefore, stressed the need for the government to provide the necessary resources for the development of the country’s cultural heritage.

Speaking at the national conference of regional directors and accountants of the National Commission on Culture (NCC) in Sunyani, the acting Dean of the Directors of the CNCs, Mr Barima Asumadu-Sakyi, said although the cultural centres had lots to offer, lack of support had rendered them ineffective in the delivery of their mandates.

The national conference was organised on the theme: “Reaffirming the roles of cultural institutions to mitigate youth unemployment and alleviate poverty”.

It was aimed at building the capacity of the regional directors and accountants to raise performance and make the CNC more relevant to the development of the country.

Infrastructure

Mr Asumadu-Sakyi said the CNCs were grappling with infrastructural deficit, saying “it is an undisputable fact that almost all the 10 centres that had existed between three and five decades were grappling with infrastructural deficits”.

He said the NCC was also struggling to stay afloat in every aspect of its operations, explaining that issues about culture had been downplayed to the advantage of tourism.

Mr Asumadu-Sakyi implored the directors and accountants to work in a symbiotic manner to reverse the trend of affairs.

He said it was a known fact that most of the performing stars in local movies, as well as those who practised indigenous technology were all associated with one centre or the other in the nurturing stages.

“What remains to be done is to seek appropriate funding from the sector ministry through the NCC and also seek support from other stakeholders to harness these potential”, he stated.

Wakeup call

For her part, the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regional Director of the CNC, Mrs Helen Sinabisi Akanbong, explained that the conference was very appropriate and a wakeup call for cultural administrators to re-assess and re-define their roles, identify their strengths and weakness to enable them to take the necessary steps to ensure that the country’s cultural assets became sources of wealth creation.

She said the cultural administrators were committed to the promotion, preservation and development of the country’s cultural heritage, adding that “we are poised to make centres relevant institution in the country”.

Mrs Akanbong said it was unfortunate that the authority had ignored and refused to recognise the important role culture played in wealth creation and employment generation, adding that “we need to recognise the fact that culture is one of the main pillars of development and sustenance of communities”.

She expressed the hope that the conference would afford them the opportunity to critically examine all the dimensions of the current predicaments in order to help chart a clear path to empower the youth to identify, mobilise and harness local resource in the arts and crafts in a bid to create employment for themselves.