MINISTRY OF ENTERTAINMENT WAS CREATED TO TAP INTO THE CREATIVITY OF THE FEDERATION’S YOUNG PEOPLE

Basseterre, St. Kitts, September 30, 2021 (SKNIS): Minister of Entrepreneurship, Entertainment and Talent Development, the Honourable Akilah Byron-Nisbett said that her Ministry was created to target the untapped creativity of the young people of the Federation.  

In an interview on September 28, the Minister stated that her ministry came to fruition after the last general elections in 2020.

“During the campaign, there were a number of persons who would have been the faces behind the virtual experience that we had for the campaign and we recognised the talents that we have in St. Kitts and Nevis and the level of creativity that we have amongst our young people that is not being tapped into,” Minister Byron-Nisbett said.

“These people of the Federation are not being tapped into in a way that would be able to drive more economic activity, as well as take these individuals to a space where they can make a lucrative career out of the different creative arts that they may have been plying their trade in over the years or things that they are more interested in,” she added.

“Coming out of the last general elections, the government decided that it is important for us to develop a ministry that focuses on the creative arts, in particular, and focus on the interests of these young persons, develop it even more and see how we can help them to have a more lucrative career path and they would be able to see the benefits of and launching into such paths as a career,” the Entertainment Minister said.  

“Over the past few months, the Ministry of Entrepreneurship, Entertainment and Talent Development has been embarking on a number of research activities as well as doing what we consider to be the structural work in order for us to be able to build out the Ministry to achieve the objectives that we intend to be able to achieve,” she said.

Minister Byron also stated that over the past months, her ministry recognised that there were four main sectors that they believed would allow them to be able to achieve the goals that they are trying to achieve, focusing on the areas of film and photography, music and entertainment, and the arts (performing arts, visual arts, literal arts).

She also said that there is the area of innovation that looks at those persons interested in robotics or building applications that meet different business needs which is an area she says has not had much attention over the years.

She added, “We have put some structures in place. We have policies that are in draft format and so it is time for us to go to the next stage where we want to begin to engage persons within the creative space to give their feedback to the structures and policies that we have developed to make sure that we are truly aligning with what their expectations are and to get them to understand what it is that the ministry can and cannot do and so on the 8^th of October we would have our first event which is earmarked for Nevis at the NEPAC (Nevis Performing Arts Centre).”