Panmen back on High Street

The sweet sounds of pan will return to High Street as San Fernando Mayor, Ian Atherly, together with members of the pan fraternity, arrived at an 11th hour truce regarding the 2004 Carnival pan route. The agreement was reached during an emergency meeting between executive members of Pan Trinbago and the South Mayor at the City Hall Chambers, Harris Promenade, yesterday.

Speaking to Newsday during the ongoing discussions, Alderman Junia Ragrello said the new route would see panmen travel west along Coffee Street, down High Street, left onto Chancery Lane, left onto Harris Promenade, down Mucurapo Street, left onto Lord Street and back onto Coffee Street. “The panmen and the Council had disagreed on the route for panmen for the Carnival season, but that has now been settled,” Ragrello said. He added that panmen would now be able to compete at two seperate pan competitions at Lower High Street and at King’s Wharf. He also noted that panmen were also disputing the City Corporation’s contribution to the pan movement saying the monies allocated towards the pan competition was “too small.” However, up to press time, no official word on a potential agreement had been reached by the two parties.