Veteran pan musician Dane Gulston was one of the many outspoken members who told Pulse: “What Pan Trinbago has displayed to its membership is total disrespect.
“My main concern with the president and the executive is that in October he held a meeting and promised that the thousand-dollar payment to pan musicians was guaranteed. The promise was repeated in November but, up to December 28, there has not been a definite word from the president. I consider this gross disrespect. Musicians played their hearts out at Panorama after months of hard practice. Doesn’t that account for anything?”
Gulston said he intends filing a motion of no confidence in the Pan Trinbago executive.
Yesterday, Pan Trinbago Inc secretary Richard Forteau confirmed that his executive understands the ire of pan musicians and added:
“We feel at some point in time we have to get the pan people to sit down with us and let us talk some sense in the interest of the national instrument and Carnival. Today (Thursday), we intend meeting with the National Carnival Commission (NCC) chairman Kenny de Silva to try and find some common ground.
“The straw that really broke the camel’s back is that the steelbands who regsistered for Panorama 2017 received cheques issued by the NCC. This has them curious and suspicious of what is going on. Many of them feel that the movement is in danger and are calling for the departure of the executive.
“The pan people are feeling that the Government is playing games with the steelband movement. People are listening to things being said in the media.”
Forteau said that at present the composition of the NCC is uncertain and explained: “The NCC Act of 1991 states that you must have a member of the three main interest groups of Carnival, which are Pan Trinbago, Tuco and the National Carnival Bands Association (NCBA), on the NCC Board, but since December 4, the terms in office in the NCC of these special interest groups would have come to an end. The NCC also doesn’t have a CEO; Carnival is very near, but the NCC is operating without these principals functioning.”
Forteau added: “The membership on Sunday, October 28 passed a resolution calling on the State to make payments to the organisation on some outstanding matters. Since then, the minister made certain pronouncements about a month ago, and Pan Trinbago has communicated with her on five occasions. She has said she will meet with us in her time and that’s as far as it has gone.”
Next year’s National Panorama competition is scheduled to begin on January 11 with the preliminaries for Single Pan bands of Pan Trinbago’s Tobago Zone in their respective panyards. East Zone steelbands are supposed to be visited by the judges on January 12-14, followed by South Central on January 15-16, and the North Zone bands have their preliminaries nightly on January 17-23. Unlike previous years, all Single Pan bands will be judged in their panyards.
Yesterday, de Silva said: “The challenge is that all budgets for Carnival were cut by 25 per cent so everybody had to adjust. The NCC, in the interest of the special interest groups, disbursed directly to Pan Trinbago $5 million to pay the pan players. Apparently, they did not make the payments. When we realised that happened, the NCC board took a decision to pay the assistance to steelbands preparing for the 2017 Panorama competition, based on a list given to us by Pan Trinbago of bands that qualify for such assistance. We have made those payments directly to the respective bands.
“The situation right now that we are having a meeting with Pan Trinbago at 11 am today (Thursday) to determine the way forward for Pan Trinbago. We have met with Panvesco looking at a way forward, re: the auditing and sales of Panorama tickets, and those discussions are ongoing.”
De Silva added: “The NCC is is moving forward with prudent fiscal management of Carnival and we are also cognisant of the fact that the Pan Trinbago organisation is critical to the landscape of T&T.”
Although Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organisation (Tuco) president Lutalo Masimba (Brother Resistance) disclosed this week that his organisation has received no funds as yet to run its four calypso tents and produce its 2017 calypso agenda, come Sunday, Carnival 2017 will get into full gear when Tuco holds its third annual Start de Carnival cooler party in the courtyard of the Grand Stand, Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain. Admission is just a blue note and the fun is scheduled to begin at 4 pm when many of the popular calypsonians and a few steel orchestras will be on hand to perform their new music, until midnight.
Speaking of new music, I haven’t heard many of the potential Carnival selections but the few that I have heard have impressed me, like Alvin Daniel’s We Are The Conquerors. This will be the tune of choice for PCS Nitrogen Silver Stars. Also catching my interest is Peter Pan, the first ever pan calypso by triple-crown Chutney Soca Monarch KI. Many of the steelband arrangers already know what they will be going to Panorama 2017 with and a few bands are already rehearsing.
Christmas in the country
As far as my Christmas season is concerned, this year’s was different from any I have spent in recent times. On Christmas Day there was no ham, pastelles, egg nog, apples or grapes. Instead I had fresh papaw, portugal and other local fruit, and naan bread, sahena, sada and bhaigan choka. I was in the country, in the forest actually, and enjoyed what is considered a “traditional” country breakfast. Food had to be caught and Christmas lunch included curried duck, ‘gouti, lappe, creole fowl, basmatee rice and dhal. I learned how to pluck a duck, singe its feathers and bunjay its seasoning. After lunch, dessert included coconut ice cream, churned how grandma used to.
In the forest there is no electricity or Wi Fi and the only time I got any social network access was when we went to Sangre Grande to replenish supplies. The sounds of the night in the forest are scary enough to make you want to make a hasty return to the city. But it was one of the best Christmases I’ve spent—and who knows, I just may return next year.
We have made it to the final weekend of 2016. What a year it has been, fraught with tragedy and fiscal adjustments, but we bravely enter 2017 in the hope that the new year will be a much better 12 months.
Sadly, though, in the arts we lost several prominent cultural personalities, including Earl Crosby, King Austin, Joey Lewis, Todd Hill, Stephen Dereck, Arsenio “Senor” Gomez, Keith Carrington and Patti Rogers. Hope our treasured icons who are still here with us will be here this time next year.
As we venture into a new year, I wish all faithful Pulse readers a happy, healthy and prosperous new year. The radio stations have already switched to Carnival mode, the switch being made on Boxing Day.
I made somewhat of a blooper last week when I incorrectly stated that author Nasser Khan had written three books. His latest, History of West Indies Cricket Through Calypsoes, is in fact his tenth book. The auther, who is a columnist for the Trinidad Guardian, has also produced eight fruit and vegetable charts of T&T and the Caribbean.