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May 11, 2023

NICH Interim President, Merilyn Young Departs

Francis Fonseca

Merilyn Young, the interim President of the National Institute of Culture and History, NICH, has left that post and the board is now looking to identify a new president to steer the organization. Young took over the reins in the latter part of 2021, after her predecessor, Sapna Budhrani’s contract was not renewed upon its expiration. While some say that Young’s performance at the institute was unimpressive, today, Minister of Education and Culture, Francis Fonseca told News Five that, given the challenging time during which Young held over, he is satisfied that she did her best with the resources that were available.

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
“Miss Marilyn Young, was, as you may know, serving in an interim capacity as president of NICH. That term has come to an end, and she has indicated to both me and to the board, that she no longer wants to continue. So, that’s where we are now. She is no longer the interim president of NICH. And we will, of course, identify someone to fill that position.”

 

Marion Ali

“How satisfied are you with her performance in that period?”

 

Francis Fonseca

“Yeah, I think people have to appreciate that we came into office at a very, very difficult time for NICH. The entire institution had been really closed down for two years. All its funding had been dried up because of COVID. The funding for NICH comes from the archaeological reserves. Because the country was closed as a result of COVID, all our sources of funding were dried up. So Marilyn came in, you know, at a very difficult time, and I think she did her very best to work with the board, to streamline the organization to make it more efficient. And I think she achieved that objective working along with the board of directors that we put in place. So I’m very satisfied that she did her very best and I think contributed positively to the development of NICH.”

 

Marion Ali

“Are there any prospects in terms of Maryland’s replacement?”

 

Francis Fonseca

“Not as yet. That’s something the board will have to discuss and then they will – I will discuss that with the board, and we’ll make a final determination


Viewers please note: This Internet newscast is a verbatim transcript of our evening television newscast. Where speakers use Kriol, we attempt to faithfully reproduce the quotes using a standard spelling system.

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