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COUVA Joylanders Steel Orchestra has fired back at the National Gas Company (NGC) after the state-owned energy company withdrew corporate funding from youth-centred, sporting, and cultural events and organisations, including local steelbands.

The orchestra has directly challenged NGC chairman Gerald Ramdeen’s comments that the company is “not here to be a Ministry of Culture or Sport” and “is not a charity,” as reported by Newsday on December 27.

“By saying ‘NGC is not a charity,’ Mr Ramdeen reduces CSR (corporate social responsibility) to mere financial prudence. But CSR is about balancing profit with social good.