Entertainment pundit Benjamin Mills, otherwise known as Mr Wear Ghana has predicted the outcome after the GHc50 million from Government is disbursed to players in the Creative Arts industry.
He shared his sentiment concerning the credit of GH¢50 million to support the Creative Arts, the Media and the Conference of Independent Universities that the fund is very small.
The regular pundit on Kasapa Entertainment on Kasapa 102.5Fm told host, Eddie Ray, he believes those to disburse the fund from Government to creative arts practitioners will first serve the interest of individuals they know since the money would not be enough to cater for all players who would want to apply for the facility.
Mr Wear Ghana who advocates for Ghanaians to patronize local fabrics said there are so many issues with the creative sectors regarding a database that can help government to identify and allocate an appreciable fund to the sector.
He holds as an opinion that the Ghc50 million is a chicken change for Creative Arts, the Media and the Conference of Independent Universities to disburse to their members as loans.
The Chief Executive Officer of Street Fashion Train Foundation thinks it likely the Ghc50 million was given to the sectors especially Creative arts sector to keep them calm.
“Small scale industry contributes 70% to the GDP of the country that is why government channel all the fund to that sector. Do the creative arts industry have a database to show for the government to give help?
“Personally, Gh50million is no money with regards to the amount creative arts players invest in their crafts or works. I see it as Ghc50m was intentionally given to the creative arts players to keep their mouths shut.
“The disbursement of the creative arts fund will bring a problem. There are lots of issues with the creative arts sector. Who are those to benefit from the money given by the government,’ Mr Wear Ghana commented
He advised that beneficiaries of the fund must be informed to invest the money in arts-oriented venture that projects Ghanaian culture.
“Industry players who will access the fund should be used in projecting our local contents,”
In his other submission, Mr Wear Ghana appealed to the government to give tax relief to the creative arts industry since the sector is the worse hit by Covid-19.
“I’m appealing to the Government to give a tax rebate or relief to the creative arts sector with regards to tourism since they are the worse hit industry by Covid-19.” He added
The Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Hon. Barbara-Oteng Gyasi engaged with the leadership of the Creative Arts industry on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, at the Accra Tourist Information Centre, to discuss how players in the sector could successfully access the government stimulus package announced during the mid-year budget review.
Mrs. Oteng-Gyasi said the GHC50m earmarked by the government for the Creative Arts and Media industries was welcome news as it will help to cushion the finances of players in the two sectors in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said her outfit would further engage the Finance Ministry to fashion out the appropriate modalities that would be suitable for the Creative Arts Sector to access the fund.
She charged the Creative Arts practitioners who would want to access the facility to endeavour to get Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) for them to qualify for the package.
