Culture Minister José Herrera told The Malta Independent that he will resist the total closure of museums and public events due the threat this will pose to everyone working within the industry.

Over the past few weeks mass events were the talk of the town due to a recent spike in COVID-19 cases which, in turn, resulted in the cancellation of such scheduled events.

The Malta Independent spoke with Herrera to get an insight into the effects that such cancellations will have on the culture sector.

“Naturally, COVID-19 affected the culture sector the most, followed by the tourism sector. However, from day one, I have referred to this sector’s events as public events rather than mass events and we (the Culture Ministry and the Arts Council) issued a set of criteria for such events in order to limit the impact of COVID-19. In fact, there were events we had to cancel because they did not fit within the criteria,” he explained.

He acknowledged that the government has issued guidelines for mass events like parties or festivals. He emphasised that the ministry produces more public events, like concerts, which follow the guidelines it had already released.

Herrera went on to say that he does not wish to go back to the situation the sector was in when all museums were closed and public events were shut down. “I will cautiously resist this because of the economic and quality of life aspects.”

“As a government we could easily announce the closure of all establishments again because of the justifiable fear of spreading the virus. However, I believe that it would be immature of me to say such a thing.”

He believes that anyone who is on the other side of the fence can easily suggest the government to opt for this closure, “but one has to consider all fiscal and economic elements when forming part of the executive.”

“We have to maintain a balance, and this is the politics that Prime Minister Robert Abela is preaching and is being sustained by us ministers; that is, being cautious, impose more regulations and minimise events.”

Regarding minimising events he said that this requires a reduction in attendees, registration of details all of attendees, social distancing measures and testing prior to entry.

Apart from this, all entities under his ministry have also adapted to using other forms for distributing culture and art across the country such as through social media, websites and the public broadcasting services. “However, this is not enough to sustain the industry, which is why we cannot simply close everything down again as this will lead to colossal damage,” Herrera explained.

He said that the cultural sector is one of the largest industries in Malta employing 12,000 individuals. Thus, he said, one has to tread carefully as there is a limit as to how much the government can contribute and sustain salaries without any work from their end.

Asked if there will be some sort of compensation for those individuals who were set to work In certain events that had to be cancelled due to the virus, Herrera said that the ministry alongside the Arts Council has contributed greatly through various schemes.

“We paid deposits for events that were going to take place even though they were postponed, so that the company or individual would have received at least half of their money. We also sponsored numerous cultural activities and entities, not just those in relation to dance or music but also folklore entities such as local bands and firework companies,” he explained, adding that the ministry will keep helping as much as it can, within the limits of the country’s funding.