The Cayman National Cultural Foundation (CNCF) will no longer be able to appoint its own board of directors.

A new law will take effect on September 1^st 2013 that will give more control directly to the Cayman Islands Government (CIG).

At present the chairman of the CNCF is Martyn Bould and the Foundation gets to appoint its own board that comprises up to 15 members with 7 being the minimum requirement. Over the years there have been some appointees that have raised a few eyebrows.

The CNCF was established in 1984 with the late Helen Harquail, who was the benefactor of the building that was named after her late husband the F.J Harquail Centre, being made a lifetime member of the board.

The Legislative Assembly in March approved the Cayman National Cultural Foundation Law 2013. This created a nine-member foundation board, and Mrs Harquail or her estate would nominate one of the members. The government will appoint the remaining eight members.

I hope the government will appoint ably qualified and culturally interested and informed persons.

At least Henry Muttoo, CNCF’s artistic director is confident this will happen.

“I have every faith that he and his team will take into consideration CNCF’s enviable track record of non-alignment to any causes other than Caymanian artistic and cultural expression, and the freedom of artists to create. We have already had a promising meeting with Minister of Culture Osbourne Bodden and senior ministry officials and look forward to working with the new board for the good of artists and the Cayman Islands,” he said.

A very easy solution, and one I would applaud, is to automatically ask the other similar cultural associations and institutions in the Cayman Islands to select a representative. The most obvious association/institution is the Cayman Drama Society that was in existence long before the CNCF came into being.

I hope that organisation will not be overlooked.

Muttoo has recommended more than two dozen names as potential board members.

The Minister has said the new board will be obligated to follow its vision for culture as laid out in the Progressives manifesto. That’s left us all scurrying to look at the manifesto to see exactly what it says.

I have and I am no wiser!

There is, however, a provision in the new law that makes me more than a little uneasy:

“The Minister of Culture may, after consultation with the Foundation, give such general directions in written form as to the policy to be followed by the foundation in the performance of its duties and functions as appear to the Minister to be necessary in the public interest”.

“As appear to the Minister to be necessary in the public interest”.

I suppose it’s nice that government ministers always have our interest at heart even if they rarely seem to consult us?

We shall see.