Single pan bands receive cheques

GARY CARDINEZ

The National Carnival Commission (NCC) gave out cheques to Pan Trinbago to distribute to single pan bands just 12 hours before the preliminary judging of the 2018 edition of the National Panorama competition, which started last night with bands in the Northern Region.

Asked about the late payment, Pan Trinbago’s president Keith Diaz said, “That was entirely up to the National Carnival Commission. I collected the cheques at seven o’clock on Wednesday night. It was a hustle to get the bands to collect their cheques. But things are working out.”

Diaz said he was working on getting the cheques for the small, medium and large bands at the moment. “The government gives single pan bands $10,000 and the conventional bands receive $20,000 to assist in their preparation for the annual Panorama.”

He said the prize structure remained the same as last year in all categories: large band $1 million, medium $600,000, small $400,000 and single pan $200,000.

About the players’ remittances, Diaz said, “That is not in Pan Trinbago’s court, it was always a decision made by the minister in charge of culture.” Diaz said it was “high time they give more consideration to the pan players. They are not getting corporate assistance and still have to make music for the festival. The remittance is not a salary, it is just a stipend to help the players with the cost of travelling to the various panyards every night. They do not get any work to play in fetes, so we have to help them.”

He also felt the Minister of National Security should “take a look at what is happening in panyards throughout TT. Thousands of young people are not involved in crime, they religiously go to the panyards to do something constructive. That ministry should invest in these youths, make them feel they are worthy of their actions by staying away from any wrongdoing.”