(Kaieteur News) – Last Thursday’s “Orange Economy State Sector Stakeholders’ Summit” at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre was supposed to be a triumphant unveiling. Instead, it served as a reminder of the yawning chasm between political rhetoric and actual executive execution.

In October 2024, President Irfaan Ali confidently assured the nation that Guyana’s long-awaited national cultural policy would land in January 2025. In his address to the 12th Parliament, the president painted a grand vision: a framework prioritising the integration of culture into national development, preserving our rich heritage, and supercharging our creative industries. He said “There has not been a better time for culture and creativity in Guyana than at present. We can start with a cultural policy. A revised draft framework for a national cultural policy will be put to public consultation in the new year. One that not only focuses on the fundamental issues of integrating culture into development, Heritage preservation and the growth of creative industry, but one that anticipates more recent concerns, like the impact of the digital ecosystem and culture and the dangers and opportunities posed by generative artificial intelligence.”

Yet, here we are in mid-2026. The promised January 2025 deadline has evaporated into the rearview mirror, and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MOCYS) has instead delivered a “Path Forward” timeline that merely promises more consultations, more audits, and a draft strategic plan by December 2026. We are not witnessing the launch of an economic engine; we are witnessing an administrative spin cycle.