The question of the late payment of prize money to winners of last year’s National Drama Festival (NDF) has to be answered by the festival director, the Ministry of Culture said, charging that there were discrepancies in the budgetary submissions.
But NDF Director Godfrey Naughton has denied the claim, stating that his submissions were accurate.
The prizes for the festival were sponsored by Digicel and this newspaper understands that the money was handed over to the ministry for award to the winners.
In November 2013, the prize winners were promised payments within two weeks of the festival’s awards’ ceremony by Culture Minister, Frank Anthony. After that time elapsed, another promise was made, this time by Naughton, that the money would be paid by Christmas.
Winners finally received their prizes nearly two weeks ago after they demanded an audience talk with the minister and inquiries were made to Digicel.
The ministry has since been criticized as lacking transparency. However, Permanent Secretary of the Culture Ministry Alfred King, in an interview with Stabroek News, said that delay was caused by inconsistencies found in the director’s financial statements, which he was cautioned to correct. “Mr Naughton has been running the festival over its budget for the past three years and he was cautioned about it. We tried to get him to sit down and articulate the budget,” King said, adding that Naughton had rejected the suggestion.
Observers have questioned the ministry’s wisdom in continuing to contract Naughton as director if he has been overrunning the NDF budget and refusing to follow the ministry’s counsel.
“The delay was …because of him. He is the director; he was out in charge… to run the festival. The minister is concerned with the policy side,” King stated.
The Permanent Secretary also accused the director of soliciting money as the contractor of the festival while he was contracted by the ministry to work as the director.
“He was signing as the director and the contractor. Naughton was paid in excess of half of a million to manage the festival so that was unethical and unprofessional,” King expostulated.
When this was put to him Naughton rejected the allegation outright, insisting that he was just the director.
For the last two years winners were paid their prize monies late, leaving participants suggesting that the monies be distributed at the award ceremony or immediately after.
