Entertainment Advisory Board welcomes reopening of the local entertainment sector
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Entertainment Advisory Board (EAB) has expressed satisfaction with the lifting of the Disaster Risk Management Act and the reopening of the entertainment sector, and is encouraging event promoters to be cognizant that great responsibility on their part is expected as COVID-19 has not been eliminated.
The prime minister on Thursday during a sitting of the House of Representatives, announced the lifting of the COVID restriction measures and the reopening of the entertainment sector.
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Following the announcement, EAB Chairman, Howard McIntosh, said the Culture and Entertainment Minister, Olivia Grange and the EAB have petitioned the Government incessantly for the reopening, restart and reset of the entertainment industry.
“After exactly two years, the professionals within the sector are enthused to be allowed to formally restart operations in an effort to rebuild, re-imagine and re-engage patrons physically to their curated experiences,” McIntosh said.
Thanking the practitioners for their resilience since March 2020, he said: “As facilitators and exporters of Jamaica’s cultural product; it was time for the sector to be granted the opportunity to reopen.”
But the EAB stressed that protocols and procedures to lessen the spread of the virus must be continued.
In addition, the board thanked the government for the opportunities they have put in place for cultural and creative practitioners to get assistance from the Development Bank of Jamaica and for the continued grant recovery facility being managed by the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport.
“We also take careful note of the reduced fees from the municipal corporations. For this we are grateful. We hope that other agencies and organisations will follow suit as this type of action will help in the immediate resuscitation of the events industry,” the board said.
The EAB said it now looks forward to continued collaboration with the government, private sector and the ECCI players to promote and redevelop this critical industry.