Published 26 October 2018
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
Ministry of Culture appreciates National Carnival-Development Bank partnership
Basseterre, St. Kitts, October 25, 2018 (DBSKN) — Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Culture, Mr Stanley Knight, has said that his ministry appreciates the partnership between the St. Kitts-Nevis National Carnival and the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis as the bank is in the tier of five top companies in terms of sponsorship of carnival’s events and activities.
“The Carnival Committee is to a large extent an independent committee which then coordinates the St. Kitts Nevis National Carnival,” observed Mr Knight. “As we know, a festival of this magnitude has quite the price tag and as we aspire to have the best national festival, it is important that we invest wisely.”
Mr Knight made the remarks recently when he received from Ms Vernitha Maynard, Marketing Officer at the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis, part of the institution’s sponsorship for this year’s National Carnival. Accompanying the Permanent Secretary was chairman of the National Carnival Committee, Mr Noah Mills.
“It is always a pleasure to have institutions such as the Development Bank which is in the tier of five top companies in terms of the sponsorship of events and activities for the National Carnival to be able to come forward and assist us, because National Carnival is a multifaceted event – one of course is the cultural aspect and the promotion of our culture,” noted Mr Knight.
Marketing Officer, Ms Vernitha Maynard, observed that as a responsible corporate citizen, the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis has over the years offered to partner with the St. Kitts-Nevis National Carnival Committee as the benefits that redound from such sponsorship go a long way in the preservation and promotion of Kittitian and Nevisian cultures.
“The Board of Directors and Management of the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis firmly believe that our youth who are our future will not achieve much in life if they do not know much or anything at all about their own culture,” said Ms Maynard.
She further noted: “We at the Development Bank are mindful that our youth must get proper guidance so as to appreciate, in a wholesome way, what their culture means to them and their country. It is for this reason that we have year after year come on board as sponsors of the National Carnival, as it is more than entertainment. It is educational in its nature.”
In the meantime, Chairman of the St. Kitts-Nevis National Carnival Committee Mr Noah Mills has pointed out that the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis which has been a longstanding sponsor of the Carnival Committee has several traits that are very admirable, saying that its willingness to give back is one of them.
“In 2015 they willingly came on board and every single year since then we have actually asked them to increase their partnership amount which they have done so willingly,” stated Mr Mills who took over as chairman of the committee in 2015. “They have also been very responsive in terms of time. For example leading up to the Carnival this year, which is Sugar Mas 47, we would have written some letters to our usual sponsors and some new ones, asking them for release of the funds, their donations, a little earlier this year.”
Mr Mills observed that the funds were needed to cater to the mobilisation of specific contestants to the pageants and competitions because oftentimes they receive the mobilisation fee late October or even early November. He noted that it was in September when the Development Bank called them to make part of its sponsorship available, allowing the contestants to start preparing themselves and help in the augmentation of the quality of the overall carnival product.
According to Mr Noah Mills, the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis has over the years been sponsoring a contestant for the National Carnival Queen pageant, and that when the committee introduced the St. Kitts-Nevis National Carnival Swimsuit pageant the bank came on board. He advised that the Swimsuit Pageant will be held on December 27, while the National Carnival Queen will be held on December 28.
ENDS
Pix captions:
1: Receiving mobilisation fee from the Development Bank: Mr Stanley Knight (left), with Ms Vernitha Maynard, and Mr Noah Mills holding the bank’s part sponsorship.
2: Chairman of the National Carnival Committee Mr Noah Mills signs sponsorship documents at the Development Bank, as Marking Officer Ms Vernitha Maynard looks on.
