‘Don’t Abuse Cultural Fund’

ADMINISTRATORS OF the Cultural Initiative Support Programme (CISP), set aside to assist in the disbursement of a €2 million grant from the European Union for the cultural sector, have reiterated the call for stakeholders to apply for the grant. The officials, urging the stakeholders not to abuse the fund, said individuals and organizations in the industry should make it a point to pursue the required procedures set by the CISP in applying for the grant. Speaking at a press briefing at the Du Bois Center in Accra last Friday, coordinator of the programme, Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng indicated that some applicants had already messed up with regard to the application. According to him, they applied for the grant even before the call for proposals was launched. “Their actions,” he said, “did not conform to the directives relating to the ideal application of the grants and does not form part of the process. As such their applications would not be given the necessary considerations.” He stated that the call for proposals was first launched on February 13, 2008 to alert stakeholders that the fund was available for them to access as well as the procedures involved in getting the grant. This, he noted, would “encourage fair distributions so that nobody gets the advantage over others.” Mr. Apenteng explained that under the 3-year grant programme an amount of GH¢ 350,000 had been allocated for disbursement this year alone. Out of the amount, the grant had been categorized into two different types namely the small and big grants. The small grants range between GH¢2,000 and GH¢12,000. Applicants, he disclosed, could access this by picking application forms at the CISP’s offices at the Du Bois Center in Accra and its others offices in the regions. The big grants which range between GH¢30,000 and GH¢50,000, according to Mr. Apenteng have its forms on CISP’s website.