PROFESSOR TREVOR Munroe is calling for private sector entities to take greater part in preserving the history and culture of Jamaica.
The professor, who was the guest lecturer at last Wednesday's opening ceremony of the Medical Association of Jamaica's (MAJ) Symposium 2004, said the country is in need of institutions to safeguard its cultural identity in the face of increasing globalisation.
"The more we are compelled to globalise, to reach out to other peoples, the more we need to localise to know who we are," Professor Munroe, Head of the University of the West Indies (UWI) Department of Government and Politics, told medical luminaries who gathered for the function at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston.
He asked: "Which country of our global standing and heritage does not have a centrepiece National Museum?"
Professor Munroe noted that an appropriate national gallery and suitable national library were also necessary and asked that private sector individuals and entities foot the bill.
Rationalising the call, he indicated that the institutions needed would require less than $500 million to be put in place, a cost he suggested was far from beyond the capacity of Jamaican business people. Last year alone, the UWI Professor claimed, private sector individuals and entities accrued an estimated $40 to $50 billion in interest payments on Government securities.
"Give the cups, sponsor the shields for local competitions, but it cannot be too much to ask those who have to put less than $500 million into the projects to preserve and popularise our national history, national heritage and national culture," Professor Munroe argued.
