Culture Minister heartened by Mash responses
by Linda Rutherford
CULTURE Minister Ms Gail Teixeira predicts a very busy Mashramani Day this year as a result of the range of positive responses she has been receiving. A number of new private companies are "coming on board" this year, and this has been augmented by the heartening indications she has been receiving from colleague Ministries and state corporations. Ms Teixeira plans calling a press conference next Thursday to update the media on which companies and agencies are sponsoring the various costume bands and competitions. She promises that by next week, all those persons and groups participating in the float parade will know what number they will be, as well as their starting points. Speaking on `GIS Forum', a television programme aired each Monday night on GTV Channel 11 at 19:00 hrs and hosted by Information Minister Mr Moses Nagamootoo, Teixeira said she would like to think that Mash is going to be bigger and better this year, and based on the feedback she has had so far, things seem to be going well. Among private entities participating this year, the Minister said, are KFC, Nigel's Supermarket, Le Meridien Pegasus hotel, Laparkan and Courts Furniture and Electrical Store. Other sources have indicated that Subway and Grace Kennedy are also coming on board in a big way this year. A new twist for 2000 is Bishop Juan Edgehill's ecumenical contingent, which, to the Minister, is a good sign given the religious community's skepticism in the past about Mash. The Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Industry will be joining forces this year with the Office of the President and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to form one band, and according to Minister Teixeira, Prime Minister Mr Samuel Hinds has also indicated that he too is putting together a cluster. His team will comprise Public Works, Sea Defence, Transport & Harbours Department (T&HD), the National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU) and the Civil Aviation Department (CAD). The Ministry of Local Government will be joining forces with the ten administrative Regions under its purview, and the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security has signalled its intention of teaming up with the Children's Parade on February 19 on behalf of the National Commission on the Rights of the Child. The Ministry of Education is slated to do something besides coordinating the children's Mash competitions, and according to well-placed sources, their contingent is 140-strong and their theme `Education for all 2000'. The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, she said, is also having its own float. The foregoing, she pointed out, were but a few of the public entities which had indicated that they were coming on board this year. While admitting that there is still work to done in convincing the larger enterprises that it is worthwhile participating in Mash, Minister Teixeira said, "I think they're coming on board slowly". She blamed their previous reluctance on lack of confidence and political instability. Noting that this was one of the reasons why the theme chosen this year is "We Mashin' As One in 2000", she said: "Let there be no doubt in anybody's mind that we're Mashing as one. This is not a political thing; this is everybody on board, regardless of who we are." Recalling an incident last year when, just a few days before Mash there was talk about a "split Mash", Minister Teixeira admitted that at first she was worried. She said, however, that as the day progressed on Mash Day, 1999 she became very heartened not only at the huge turnout, but also at the fact that there were people there of every race. "My heart felt really good...[that] Guyanese had made a choice. It was awesome to me, and I think that's what gave me and my staff and all those who helped us, renewed vigour that we were on the right path," she said. Teixeira is of the opinion that should the country "get this thing right with Mashramani, we can do as the Trinidadians did with their Carnival and the Barbadians with their Crop-Over, and develop it into not only a national cultural festival but also a main event in the regional carnival calendar". Besides economic and other gains, she said, it will also provide Guyanese with the opportunity of showcasing their country "so that we're not only remembered for Jonestown and rigged elections between 1968 and 1985; that we're put on the map for something positive, explosive and wonderfully creative and different". "I don't want us to be copying Carnival in Trinidad. We're different people; we're unique in many ways," she said. Ms Teixeira feels that in two years' time, "Mashramani is going to be part of the carnival calendar of the Caribbean".
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