The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange, says a total of $115 million has been set aside for Jamaica 60 activities.

Of the amount, $15 million will be used to compensate staff while $100 million will go towards projects.

Grange made the disclosure during Thursday’s sitting of the Standing Finance Committee of the Parliament that examined the $912 billion Estimates of Expenditure for the 2022/23 fiscal year. She was answering questions posed by the Opposition Member of Parliament for St Catherine Eastern, Denise Daley.

Grange told the committee that a Jamaica 60 Diamond Jubilee Awards function will be held to recognise the country’s sports personalities who have contributed to the development of sports over the last 60 years.

She also revealed that the long-awaited Museum of Sports will also be a Jamaica 60 project. This was in response to a question from the Member of Parliament for Manchester Central, Rhoda Crawford, about when the project will be realised. Grange said the work on the museum was far advanced, with an initial amount of $15 million allocated that will be used to engage the consultants on the project.

The sport minister explained that while the museum fell under the sports division of her ministry, a decision was taken to place it elsewhere so the work could be fast tracked.

“In order to expedite the process we have now shifted it to the commemorative and special events unit and we will be treating it as a Jamaica 60 project,” the minister told the committee. She stressed that a lot of work has been done already.

“We have identified a location, we have a design, everything is in place,” said Grange.