PM asked to intervene in Pan Trinbago election dispute

Pan Trinbago’s president Beverley Ramsey-Moore says the Prime Minister has more important things to do than to deal with the organisation’s internal affairs.

This comes after a letter was sent by four members to the Dr Rowley calling for him to intervene in a dispute between some members and the organisation’s executive. The letter was signed by Carlan Harewood former vice president, Gerard Mendez former treasurer, pannist Dane Gulston, former secretary northern region Robert Hernandez and Earl Morris former vice chairman northern region.

Mendez said to Newsday that the letter was sent on March 16 and the group is yet to hear from Rowley.

The letter said, “We are contacting you as Prime Minister, recognising that you are the head of the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and Pan Trinbago is a state-supported entity that receives funds from the national treasury.

“We believe that our government has an obligation to ensure that all state-supported entities adhere to the priniciples of democracy, comply with their established constitution, operate with the highest standards of transparency and good governance, and safeguard the constitutional rights of its members.

“There is currently a crisis situation existing in Pan Trinbago, where former elected members of the executive, led by Beverley Ramsey-Moore, is refusing to vacate the office after the end of their duly elected term of office.”

It also said that the issue was also brought to the attention of National Carnival Commission (NCC) CEO and chairman, respectively Colin Lucas and Winston “Gypsy” Peters, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh and Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts Randall Mitchell.

It asked Rowley to view the matter as urgent and that the issue would be regarded “as a serious breach of the fundamental rights of citizens in our democratic society.”

In a phone interview with Newsday on Monday, Ramsey Moore said, “We are an organisation of steelbands. We have over 200 registered members of Pan Trinbago…

“I am sure the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago has more important things to do than to get involved in Pan Trinbago’s affairs where the membership has the power to treat with its central executive.”

She said the central executive – according to its constitution – has the authority to make decisions on behalf of its members when its members are unable to come together in a constituted meeting.

Ramsey-Moore said when asked about the elections, that after consultation with its members, it was advised by the majority of its bands to postpone the convention.

She said the PNM also postponed its convention last year because of the pandemic.

She said in October 2021, TT was in a State of Emergency (SoE) with a gathering of only 15 people and a curfew.

“That is what was happening in October. There were hardly any flights moving between Trinidad and Tobago. Tobago delegates could not come down to Trinidad and as such we listened to the members and we made the right decision…”

She said that the organisation’s constitution that its tri-annual convention shall be held within the period of September 1 to October 31.

“Therefore, we have postponed. We are very happy that the country is opening up more and more. We are seeing a decrease in the (covid19) numbers and I want to assure you, that within the constituted period, we will have our tri-annual convention.”

Ramsey-Moore said her executive was “anxious” to have the convention.

She added that the convention can only be held when 60 per cent of its members are present. She added that it was not just an election where people vote and go home.

She said it was a meeting that was postponed.

“That is why I want the country to know we did not postpone an election. We postponed a meeting of the membership which can only convene when there are 60 per cent of bands present.”

She added that the meeting must be held in one place where all the delegates from Trinidad and Tobago must attend.

“Only after 60 per cent is present then the agenda is dealt with. I want to say that for them the important thing on the agenda is the election but for us in the central executive one of the most important things is the reporting on how we spent the finances of the organisation.

“And we want to boast, we have cleaned up the finances of the organisation. We have done our audits and we are ready to present a report to our members so they can give us a resounding round of applause.”