COMMUNITY Development, Culture and the Arts Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly says her Ministry is looking closely at steelband organisation Pan Trinbago following allegations of questionable financial transactions and growing debt.
Vice president Byron Serrette said Tuesday he resigned from the organisation after he had concerns about the alleged purchase of two luxury vehicles with funding from Pan Trinbago, as well as other concerns about the operations of the organisation.
Gadsby-Dolly said yesterday: “The internal affairs of Pan Trinbago don’t concern the Ministry. We are not concerned about who is president or not. We are looking on closely because they are receiving a huge amount of money for running Panorama.
“Since the allegations are of financial improprietry, the Ministry is looking closely at it. We are considering our options with respect to ensuring taxpayers’ money is handled with all transparency.”
Gadsby-Dolly told the Express: “We have not come to a conclusion yet. We are examining the options and what was told to the (National Carnival Commission) and the Ministry. Pan Trinbago is an independent group. We interact with them through Panorama. In terms of Panorama, it’s a clear mandate. Pan Trinbago has other ventures and their debtors are Pan Trinbago debtors.
“We interact with them for their receipt of State funds for Panorama. We have to ensure the public interest is protected. We are looking at it and we are examining it. Our duty is to the taxpayers.”
Pan Trinbago debts
A senior cultural administrator at the NCC told the Express by phone yesterday that Serrette had “held up a mirror to Pan Trinbago. They are unaccustomed to it. They have serious governance issues. It is a serious bone of contention.
“We have told Pan Trinbago it is not business as usual. We have to disperse monies in a certain way. Pan Trinbago owes about $7m to financial institutions and they have a loan for $3m.
Serrette said he was met with “gross disrespect” when he voiced his concerns about Pan Trinbago’s operations.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20161102/news/culture-minister-we8217re-looking-at-pan-trinbago
Replies
odw, yuh shut down the whole discussion with your comment, "Pan Trinbago problems are small compared to the bail-outs and miss use of tax payers funds by others" I believe it's true that no one ever make ah jail for misappropriation of public funds in T&T, if they start to jail people for corruption only about 50 people will be outside, so we just tell "weself" dis too will pass away just now it's carnival time again.
Those who live in glass houses ought not to throw stones....as highly elected office holders in this movement,.they ought to know better....but in reality as Winston Churchill once opined, "Power corrupts...and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Plenty plenty more shall be unfolding.....the evidence appears not to be circumstantial...every story have 3 sides...the defendant version, the appellant version and de God-awful truth...
I suppose that NCC Chairman & Accountant are watching; TT Customs & Excise watching, GORTT Ministers of Culture; Finance; and Foriegn Affairsand the Hon. Dr. PM also watching,...TTPS Fraud Squad, British Scotland Yard, and Interpol may also be watching....
.I will leave it right there for now...and continue to pray for and hold on tight to my beloved national instrument......coming from out of this dark time.,.into the light
Your supposition is well taken; this is Trinidad we are talking about, not to be pessimistic I can’t recall the last time someone was convicted, served jail time or paid restitution for misusing taxpayer’s money in Trinidad.
Those who claim to have an obligation to safe guard the public purse are just as misguided in their approach to solving these problems. I’m reminded of the Auditor General reports, Clico bailout, Udecott and Calder Hart, Anil Roberts and Life Sport audit/probe. Pan Trinbago’s problems are $mall compared to those professionals and their criminal enterprise.
Lets not fool ourselves, we will do what we always do, just watch. Lawyers get richer, everybody making deals; nothing is learnt, no new laws or rules to prevent these problems from reoccurring. The system is broken, expect more of the same, come 2017 it’s Party Time Again…
Now, I would like to believe that there are still some honest steelband leaders out there. Time to stop pointing fingers and contribute to correcting this confusion. My heart go out to the hard working pan man who contributes to giving their very best every Panorama year after year. It surely is not right concerning money long overdue to the bandleader and their people. Time to get the very best well educated financial planners and a honest people committee put together only made up of bandleaders big and small which should be monitored closely by a governing body selected by the bandleaders which only seek the interest of the overall movement and finances for the Pan man.
Finance? Colm Imbert
It this the same minister who organize and spent thousands of taxpayers dollars on trinis, who can't afford ,in this guava season, to enjoy a boat cruise to the Bahamas. Is this the same person who is looking over this Pan Trinbago fiasco? If so,what a damm joke.
patrick...the operative word here is "look"...lol...you self man!...
What Serrette and others before who have pointed this alleged financial impropriety against PT has to do, is to inform the band members officially with sufficient proof through their appointed lawyers, so that the band members can issue a total boycott of Panorama 2017 this year or have PT call an Election and have the entire Board voted out and replaced with new board members( not including Serrette) before Panorama.
PT must hire an external auditor firm that should do the Audit for the last five years where Serrette was on the Board.2011-2016. In this way the pan band members must call in their power rights. This is also the problem. When the members-the steelpan bands do nothing to call in their member rights this is what occurs. This will also test whether the members have those rights. If not PT should be abandoned by the steelband members who should now form a private association which raises funds privately and internationally through the world wide web.
There is nothing to stop the Government from temporarily excluding PT and becoming the main financial supporter for this Panorama and go to Parliament and appoint a temporary board for the Panorama event 2017 and run directly by the Government of T&T through this temporary Panorama board. No funds should be given to PT for this years Panorama with this current Board. All this can be obtained if the steelbands come together and boycott PT and this years Panorama. If the bands strike this note it could be the start of a new era in the lives of the steelbands. If not the present system does nothing for pan and pan players.
It simply encourages pilfering of the people's money. The Minister says she is looking at PT in terms of Panorama. I hope that this is what she has in mind as well. It can be done. PT was commissioned by the Government of T&T through an Act of Parliament. Yes PT is independent but also dependent of funds from the Government (millions of tax payers monies) in terms of funding the Panorama which includes paying the pan players monies and assisting pan bands where necessary to prepare physically for Panorama like trucking for very small and poor bands.
The Government cannot ease themselves out entirely. They must put their foot down if serious complaints have been made throughout the years towards PT. Steel bands must know that they can sue Pan Trinbago for monies outstanding to them and their pan players and can sue the board members in the way they run Pan Trinbago. If they don't wish to do this then no one can help them.
There are sufficient lawyers who are interested in the pan movement headed by one very famous one. It is a movement loved by many professionals. Pan bands simply have to call on the professionals for help and then the movement can shift into a better professional position if it hopes to have an international influence on the world stage of pan.
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