Deputy Presidential Spokesperson, Shamima Muslim, has reiterated that the government’s decision to scale down the Independence Day celebration was aimed at ensuring prudent management of the country’s limited resources.

Her comments follow concerns that the reduced celebration was less inclusive and denied schoolchildren the opportunity to participate in the traditional march-past.

Speaking in an exclusive interview on Channel One Newsroom on Thursday, March 6, Shamima hinted that future celebrations would be more inclusive and diverse while remaining cost-sensitive and patriotic in approach.

She emphasized the government’s commitment to responsible resource management as a key strategy for navigating the country’s current economic challenges.

“Into the future, after we have reviewed the process a bit further, I am sure that what the majority view on how to curate a commemoration that is both inclusive and diverse but that is also still cost sensitive to the time as well as nationalist in approach will be adopted.

“We don’t have any problems with that but just for today, the purpose for which we wanted a scale-down version was to me, there were good reasons for it and at the base of it is that we are in an obscurest time and it calls for prudence in the management of our very scarce resources,” she said.