Ja 50 - the mission continues

Fresh from the climax of the Jamaica 50 celebrations that transformed sections of the island a bit before and during the traditional week of Independence celebrations, Minister of Youth and Culture Lisa Hanna, along with members of the Jamaica 50 Secretariat, less than convincingly announced to the media on Wednesday that the mission did not end there. It will continue.

Hanna said that the continuation of the mission will focus largely on the "legacy component".

This component she said, is being spearheaded by the legacy committee chaired by CHASE Fund CEO Billy Heaven.

"We have a number of projects in education, infrastructure, heritage, culture, academia, other symposium literature and the arts which will be implemented over the course of the rest of this year," said Hanna. These she said, will be announced at a later date. 

The minister said that the recent celebrations and its experience have laid a good foundation going forward. "Based on the framework that has been created, the objective is now to fine-tune this model and use the time available to us over the next year to transform that into a more robust action plan aimed at positioning the cultural and entertainment industry as a central pillar for economic growth going forward," she said.

She said that the period July 1 to August 6 can be used as a major focal point in positioning the country by creating a truly international event capable of showcasing the country and ending with the main celebratory period of August 1 to 6.

"This is the part of the mission for the country over the next 50 years, or what I'd like to refer to as mission 2062. To this extent, we're focusing our attention to the creation of the policy environment to support the institutionalisation of this objective. I have tasked the Jamaica 50 Secretariat to frame this plan and once I have the chance to carry it through the necessary discussions and approvals at the Cabinet level, I will provide them to you accordingly," explained Hanna.

Director of the Secretariat, Robert Bryan, also shared similar comments saying the celebrations served to be more that just that. "A lot of it was actually focused on how we could actually shape the celebration and produce an event and a set of activities that might set a blueprint for the country going forward the whole development of the theme a nation on a mission."

The two also shared that they are very pleased with the islandwide proceedings that took place as a part of the Jamaica 50 celebrations, and lauded the efforts of those involved in making it a success.

(from Jamaica Star)