All artists and service-providers owed for Carifesta 2019 will be paid by the end of January 2020.
This from Minister of Community Development, Culture and the Arts, Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly.
In early November, Guardian Media reported that many of the Carifesta artists and service providers were still owed for their services, although Carifesta wrapped up in August.
At that time, the ministry said it was working to settle all outstanding debts by the second week in December.
But in responding to questions about Carifesta from Guardian Media, Gadsby-Dolly said yesterday that the completion date for payments is now the end of January.
“We have a number of invoices coming in, there were hundreds of invoices coming in at the end of September, just at the end of the financial year, so it was really a matter of getting them through, in the government service, you have to make sure that you do your checks and balances,” she said.
She said the end of the financial year in October delayed the process and the ministry is doing its best to get that process completed.
Asked if the delay was expected, Gadsby-Dolly said, “We certainly hoped not but we certainly knew that because of the timing of Carifesta, down to the end of August, the fact that the financial year closed one month shy of that, it would most likely have run over.”
She said the process was being ‘retarded’ by small errors in invoices, such as to spelling errors but those are being dealt with as they arise.