Keith Byer for president

Hi all, my name is Keith Byer and i am vying for the position of president of pantrinbago in the upcoming elections.

In the field of eight candidates, i am the most experienced, having serve as the vice president for ten years. I am also the only one with international experience in steel pan administration, having staged a Caribbean panorama in Grenada and a Caribbean junior festival in Antigua, which gave me the opportunity to work directly with Caricom and UNESCO. I was also responsible for the international conference and panorama from inception and was named project coordinator for the implementation.

I am the founder and president of Diatonic Pan Institute a registered non profit company; a registered CBO; and also registered with the national registry of Artist and cultural workers.

While outside of PanTrinbago, i have assisted and supported numerous steel bands both at home and across the Caribbean. I have demonstrated my passion for the movement by staging for the past eight years a steel band competition called steel in motion. designed to keep pan yards active after panorama.

I also produced a fourteen week program on the major television station in Trinidad which saw twenty four bands given an opportunity to perform, talk about their success and challenges but most significantly the program spoke to the importance of steel pan in the community. There is much more i can say about my work in the field but it will be revealed in subsequent post.

My team consist of Aquil Arrindell- vice president; Fuad Abu Bakr- PRO; Kerri Ann Walters -Treasurer; Khion DeLas -Education Officer; Travis Mulraine -Asst. Secretary..

Thank you for reading my post and i am appealing for your support to make our beloved organisation a viable entity.

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  • Okay Mr. Byer

    Let's take off the kid's gloves.

    Why should Mr.Sheppard not be considered a viable candidate for the office of president of Pan Trinbago?

    Do you know of any reason why Mrs. Beverley Ramsey Moore is not a better candidate for President than you?

    Was the out going Pan Trinbago administration corrupt? 

    Should the NCC continue to control all Panorama financial matters?

    bugs

  • Hello Mr. Byer

    You are charged with making the tough decisions as opposed to making the popular or expedient ones. Can you give any reason why the single pan Panorama is a good business decision?

    bugs

    • decisions on panorama will be taken through consultation with the membership. we all know that the single pan competition is not a financially profitable event, however not everything can be measured in dollars and cents..Decisions on the single pan will have to consider a number of possibilities including going back to the streets as a gift to the nation.

      • Thank you for your response Mr, Byer.

        As a follow up. Is there any logical reason why single pan bands should have equal voting rights, as, let's say, the Big 5 and other similarly-sized or conventional bands ? I mean no disrespect but I honestly don't think there are 100 foreigners who travel to Trinidad specifically to see the single pan bands. Quoting the legendary Mr. Nevile Jules - "we moved past that a long time ago". Again, as Merrytones would say - what is cockroach doing in fowl business?

        bugs

  • Thanks for your answer, inadequate as it is. Others have not even answered!

    Pan Trinbago's debt is in the TENS OF MILLIONS. Reduction of wastage, salaries, positions will not even scratch the surface. So come back again!

    Also are you prepared to sign an undated letter of resignation, so when the MEMBERSHIP has voted on your removal, you go quietly?
    • If the membership don't want me, i am prepared to walk. No need for an undated letter of resignation. I came out of the executive in 2006 because i refuse to toe the line. Nuff Said

  • So Mr Byer…Given your immense experience at management, especially where Pan Trinbago is concerned…What's your plan for a more equitable Panorama competition? Will we see and end to players playing with more than one band and using relatives names to claim their cheques?…Yes?… Maybe steel bands finding money to pay players…somehow...other than aiding and abetting fraud?

    The rules for participation in Panorama were changed from the original "A player can only play with one band" to "A player can only register with one band" to "A player can play with only one band in each category" But you an I know that quite a number of pansists play with six and more bands….They have to be paid…somehow…Right?

    • The players fraud is aided and abetted by steelband leaders. It is one of the reasons that i don't enter my band in the panorama competition. Each band spends about $10,000.00 on a player to help them win Panorama which includes pan, racks, uniform, transport for pan and players. It is unthinkable after spending that type of money to see that player with another band trying to beat you. This type of behaviour is mercenary actions which should not be encouraged and is being taught to the younger ones. A few years ago i had a discussion with the manager of a prominent Port of Spain steelband on the subject and he had a seemingly foolproof method of dealing with players fraud. i wrote a document on panorama and submitted to the executive with this method as part of the document. i was told by a regional Chairman that the document was tabled at a COCERO meeting, which is a meeting of all the heads of Pan Trinbago and it got favourable response. However it was never implemented. That document will be revisited.

      • Answered like a true politician Mr Byer…But the truth is you can't simply lump all the blame on "steel band leaders". Since you were a member of Pan Trinbago's central executive for 10 years you no doubt know they/you simply turned a blind eye to the problem because they/you were/are afraid to rock the boat. A few years ago one of your rivals for the post of President promised to "look into it"upon taking office…So that response is not new to me.

        A candidate for this upcoming election visited our pan yard recently and when confronted with the same question, one of his colleagues stated that it would be better to deal with the matter "when they take office"…Imagine that?...

        I guess its safer to be popular, than face the consequences of being honest...

        Everybody wants to go to heaven…But nobody wants to die…Allyuh not fooling me one bit...

        • I take offence to being accused of dishonesty by you. I would let you know that i came out of the executive in 2006 and was in the doghouse from 2004. This is the era when players fraud flourished. During my tenure as manager of silver stars, i stopped contract players and was accused of taking bread out of people mouth, however we won two panorama in the process. I said the document will be revisited to reduce players fraud and it will be revisited.

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