Pan Trinbago takes NCC to court

The application for judicial review will be heard today by Justice Vasheist Kokaram at the Hall of Justice in Port-of-Spain. Pan Trinbago’s acting President Richard Forteau confirmed to Newsday that the legal action surrounds the alleged hostile takeover of the Carnival interest group.

Forteau said the pan body will be seeking to have reviewed a decision of January 24 and 25, by the Minister of Community Development, Culture and Arts Dr Nyan Gadsby- Dolly, who ordered a forensic audit into Pan Trinbago.

Following allegations of financial mismanagement and impropriety by the Pan Trinbago Executive, Gadsby-Dolly also instructed NCC to take over the gate receipts for Panorama 2017, in addition to the financial audit. Forteau declined to give further details of the court action. The pan body has accused the Government and the NCC of usurping their role in Carnival and their legislative authority.

Pan Trinbago also accused the Government of failing to appoint members of the three stakeholder Carnival bodies to the NCC as was required under the law. In recent weeks, pan players have been demanding the immediate resignation of the Pan Trinbago executive after several issues of mismanagement of funds, including for the purchase of a luxury car, and the lack of payment to players were raised.

The players had threatened to boycott this year’s Panorama competition but an agreement was arrived at, in January, to allow for the staging of the national competition.

Pan Trinbago was said to be owing close to $31 million at the start of the year, according to NCC president Kenny De Silva in published reports.