Letters & Opinion

In Support of ACCT’s Position

By Betty Combie, Quality Management Consultant

IN an effort to further empower our young people to achieve their goals, I have been conducting sessions with some of them entitled “Get the Results You Want”. This is a short seminar in which I share on the international best practice for effectiveness.

The question posed at the start of the each session is “What is your passion?” An eye-opener for me has been the large percentage of young persons who identify some aspect of the creative arts as their passion. You don’t have to take my word for it. Question a group of young persons on what drives, motivates and excites them. I assure you that more than 50% will say music, dance, singing, design, theatre arts, etc.

I don’t consider myself a creative arts person. My passion is people empowerment and I have been involved in people development for over 30 years. From my experience, people are more receptive and responsive to empowerment skills that are useful to their passion; hence my reason for seeking to identify the passion of these young persons and relating it to the seminar.


Recognising the importance of the creative arts to our young people, I have listened with interest the current debate on the relocation of the National Cultural Centre.

The reality is that we are losing many of our young people to gangs, drugs, crime, etc. We desperately need to maintain and embrace strategies which keep our young people constructively engaged. When it comes to the role of the creative arts in this respect, I TRUST the position of the Saint Lucians who have worked tirelessly over the years in support and promotion of culture and the creative arts. I think their judgment and recommendations should be acknowledged as authoritative.

I would like to congratulate our artistic and cultural activists on the formation of the Artistic and Cultural Community Team (ACCT) and on the release of their first publicly-documented position on the proposal to relocate the National Cultural Centre: The Case for the National Cultural Centre at Barnard Hill – Part 1: The Ideal Location.

As a concerned parent and citizen, my position is simple. The creative arts are too important to our young people to dismiss the advice of experienced and qualified persons in the cultural and creative arts industry. I am supporting ACCT to get the results they want as they continue to strengthen their case for the National Cultural Centre at Barnard Hill. In the interest of our young people, what about you?

1 Comment

  1. Well said Betty! I am happy to see someone in your profession look at this issue of relocation of the NCC from the angle of impact on the youth. It seems that most persons in authority do not understand how the Arts can contribute to enhancing the academic development of youth and also for honing the skills of the very many talented youth and putting them into action so that we do loose them to crime, drugs, gangs and violence.

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