$120m pan headquarters

WE CALL for fuller details of the new headquarters for Pan Trinbago. Any repurposing of state property requires transparency. But steelpan is now the national instrument, so declared for the benefit of all.

This is not just a matter of Cabinet handing over the old post office site at Wrightson Road, Port of Spain, to the pan body. This is, or should be, a national-level project, requiring a commensurate degree of planning and forthrightness.

There has been a steady drip feed of information ever since the Prime Minister announced on August 24 the plan for Pan Trinbago and the Government to share a building on the land last used by the Surveys and Mapping Division of the Ministry of Agriculture.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts on August 26, the six-storey structure will house the pan body, the ministry, Tourism Trinidad Ltd and the National Carnival Commission (NCC). It will feature a pan museum, a 300-seat theatre, conference rooms, a gift shop, a cafeteria and a rooftop area, as well as parking. It will cost $120 million.

Where this funding will come from in this guava season and whether it will be recouped are unclear.

“It is anticipated,” said the ministry, that the on-site facilities “will earn additional revenue for Pan Trinbago.”

However, it is also proposed that state entities will occupy the premises rent-free for 50 years.

The ministry further suggests the cost will be spread out over the period of construction, starting “with an allocation to be determined in fiscal year 2025/2026.”

What is clear is this facility cannot merely be a flash-in-the-pan venture on the eve of an election.

It needs to fulfil a strategic purpose. This starts with ensuring there are revenue and expenditure projections going beyond the cost of construction and touching on Pan Trinbago’s need for long-term financing.

In this regard, it is unclear why space that could be rented should be allocated freely to state entities, some of which already have offices across the road.

There are benefits to reducing the burden on cultural bodies like the NCC and to centralising. And it could be the Cabinet envisions state tenants jump-starting the rental of the building, given low demand generally for office space in an urban area in need of rejuvenation. Is this the plan?

We fully support the idea of new pan premises, especially after two failed attempts in 1974 and 2001.

However, if the details are not fine-tuned for the benefit of the public, fears will run high that this venture is destined not to truly benefit the national instrument and, instead, become yet another costly white elephant – this time in the capital city, where there are already a few.