When will Carbbean Governments Invest in Art and Culture?

This morning I'm checking in at Nico's blog to see what's going on at Carifesta X and find she is reporting on the address by Derek Walcott. The Nobel Laureate's words cause my bones to hurt, so true-true are they. He criticizes all the governments of the Caribbean for spending our millions to cover the land with mega hotels but cannot find the money for theatres and museums. Nico's been writing for years about this too, how the Bahamas government of the day invests nothing in arts and culture, and how devastating this is to our collective consciousness, our spirit, and yes, our economy too. Now Walcott echoes her from Guyana and I wonder: Who will listen, who will take heed? My heart is with the Bahamian artists representing us at the festival, I'm grateful to them for continuing to conjure up the inspiration, vision and strength it takes to create in spite of continuing governmental neglect.