The National Garifuna Council Punta Gorda Branch has raised concerns about its funding for this year’s November celebrations, saying it had not received its usual annual allocation and warning that some celebrations would have to be scaled back.
NGC President Alex Nolberto, however, says the branch has since received its full allocation after an initial reduction of $900.
In a post, the branch acknowledged receiving a one-time payment of $2,000 from the NGC, which it said came from the $60,000 contribution the council received from the National Institute of Culture and History (NICH).
However, the branch said it had not received its usual $2,900 allocation from the NGC’s separate annual subvention.
Nolberto says the Punta Gorda branch was initially among two branches that received a reduction after the NGC executive reviewed the previous year’s allocations and adjusted the amounts for this year.
“We tried to mirror that with some increases across various branches, particularly the larger branches and the more active branches. In that calculation, there were two branches which got a reduction. PG was one,” Nolberto said.
He said the Punta Gorda branch president contacted him about the reduced amount, which led him to instruct the council’s treasurer to remit the $900 difference.
“They have gotten their allocation, the full allocation, which mirrors what they got last year,” Nolberto said.
He also explained that the annual allocations are not intended to cover all the expenses incurred by individual branches. Each branch is expected to raise additional resources to support its activities throughout the year.
Nolberto says the $60,000 donation has already been spent across the council’s three major events.
“People believe that sixty thousand dollars is a lot, but in the three events in and of themselves, that money has disappeared,” he said.
Nolberto added that he intends to release an expenditure listing showing how the contribution was spent, while making the case for additional resources to support the NGC’s work beyond the November celebrations.
“It is also my intent to release the expenditure listing to show how we’ve spent the sixty thousand dollars that was allocated to us,” he said.
