The negative advice of the committee is now being forwarded to Flemish Minister of Culture Jan Jambon (N-VA). It ultimately decides which companies receive money and how much. The Toneelhuis will now further motivate the file. Then a second advice follows. The final decision will be made at the end of June. “I don’t want to believe that this would happen,” says Jan Rombouts, “we would have been clipped.” Toneelhuis also receives subsidies from the city of Antwerp, but these would not be enough to keep all staff in service.
“I am just as shocked as she is,” says Alderman for Culture Nabilla Ait Daoud. “It came like a bolt from the blue. I did see that the unrest among the employees yesterday was converted into renewed fighting spirit. I will also defend their file at the right time with the Minister of Culture, as I do for other cultural institutions .”
Extra subsidies from the city are not immediately included. “We give 2.74 million to the Toneelhuis every year. Those funds are fixed until 2025.”
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