Grange Mandates Ministry and Agencies to Strengthen Cultural Commemorations

Charles Town, Portland, June 23, 2017 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has committed the resources of her Ministry and its Culture Agencies to improve the welfare of
heritage communities, including the Maroons.

In her address at the Ancestor Quao Day Celebration today (Friday), organised by the Charles Town Maroons as part of their International Maroon Conference, Minister Grange invited the organisers to work closely with the Ministry towards increasing the economic benefit of the annual event, now in its ninth year.

Minister Grange said that Jamaican culture “offers possibilities for the strengthening of our economy and we must build on it.”

In that effort, she announced that the Ministry was willing to “work closely” with the various heritage communities “to ensure that each event redounds to their economic and social benefit.” In this regard, the Ministry is prepared to assist organisers to promote more strategic organisation and planning, more effective marketing and public relations as well as greater inter-agency collaboration, such as with Tourism.

While expressing her wish to see “standing room only” for next year’s Ancestor Quao Day Celebration, Minister Grange said:

“Our intention is to establish a Working Group between the organisers of Quao Day and the Ministry that will begin in short order to prepare for next year’s event. As such, I am instructing the Jamaica National Heritage Trust to work with you in the future staging of this event. I am also instructing the Institute of Jamaica to assist you in upgrading and strengthening the museum in the Asafu Yard [in Charles Town] in order to be able to tell to the world the story of the Invisible Hunter.”