Panmen to march tomorrow

From noon, the players are expected to head to Pan Trinbago’s office at Park Street, opposite Victoria Square in Port-of-Spain to express their dissatisfaction with the organisation and its handling of money and other administrative issues.

Pannist Dane Gulston called a meeting, via Facebook, to discuss the way forward for Panorama following an extra ordinary meeting held on December 28. At that meeting the panmen called for a boycott of the annual Panorama competition saying, “No money, no Panorama.” At yesterday’s meeting held at Trinidad All Stars’ Steel Orchestra pan yard in Port-of-Spain, Gulston said, “I called the meeting because we had a heated discussion in our meeting last Wednesday. I called the meeting for panmen and the executive of bands to decide where we heading from now.

“It is 2017. Promises have been made for a number of time and I have just called panmen to unite really and truly.” The meeting saw a turn-out of approximately 50 panmen and women.

Gulston added that difficulties within the pan fraternity have been happening for 50 years and, “we still can’t get it right and no one stands up for panmen.” He said that the meeting was not about personal gain nor money but rather the “disrespect” shown to pan players. “I am saying let us come together and go to Pan Trinbago and seriously say how we feel, collectively and in a united way.” Gulston said many of the players did not want to go to Panorama under the same regime because they were, “poorly represented.” “No real transparency and (no one) even coming to us and sharing information. So we have figured out of this meeting, we deciding if we going Panorama under the same regime or don’t go Panorama at all,” he said. While the majority were in agreement with Gulston, other pan players such as Cary Codrington of the Codrington Pan Family said the boycott of Panorama should occur for the right reasons.

He said, “I think changes have to be made in Pan Trinbago. The whole culture of the movement needs to change…pan is a business and we have to look at it as a business.” Codrington said hundreds of millions of dollars was spent on the national instrument and the annual event over the years, “and the returns to pan people is minimal or none.” For Codrington, the entire Panorama effort no longer made sense.

He said the entire relationship between pan and pan players needed to be changed. “In 1980 they had the boycott and out of the boycott we got Pan Trinbago. Yes Pan Trinbago took it to another level. Now I am hoping we could have another boycott which would take it another level where the steelband could become a viable industry that could support us,” he said.

For Richard Gordon of Revelation Institute for Performing Education (RIPE) his visit at yesterday’s meeting was an information-seeking one.

He said any action by pan players had to be thought through and he was against any boycotting of the Panorama as, “it does not make sense.” He said the country was going through a recession and that needed to be understood.

“Panmen with or without Keith Diaz need to decide what they want and once they decide what they want, they can decide how they can raise funds,” he said.

There were discussions at the meeting of starting a Pan Man Union which Gordon is in agreement with.

Notable pan players such as Len ‘Boogsie’ Sharpe and Clive Telemaque were among those who spoke at the meeting.