Greeetings everyone,

YES, I am certainly pushing this agenda...as such I have set up a facebook page to get the necessary feedback from the public. I welcome all inputs from the people who agree that this is good and also from the people who have opposite or different views. Go to the following page and have your say I will be compiling the data.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/377768975711984/377784565710425/

For the people who view this as positive for pan ,I urge you to get involve and submit your ideas and suggestions ...to the skeptics I say please express your skepticism as we need to address your concerns..... The good thing about this venture is that it is in our hands the ordinary pan people (It is not yet in the hands of the politicians). We therefore can set the agenda...... Next year is elections in T&T ..but we can say that we are looking at the 2020 elections ...however  a lot can happen in a year...right now the ball is in our court lets try and score some goals .....Salah

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  • Who in the republic of Trinidad & Tobago understands and is willing to take up this worthy and honourable struggle of pushing this agenda for an exclusive Ministry for Pan in T&T ....history will record your actions ...we are also looking for sponsors for T-Shirts promoting this concept of a Ministry for Pan in T&T.....have your say ..it may not happen next year 2015 election ...but 2020 ...YES ... Do not leave it up to the next generation .......

    Salah

    • Salah, For what it's worth I think it would be nice if the steelbands are informed, a letter or email to sponsors might help, who knows? Getting a reporter on board is essential, also Talk Radio host  that do steelband shows  putting the word out would be awesome.  

      • Cecil, what a great an excellent idea ( ideas) ....Yes .....I am going to start writing the managers of bands ..first with the bands that I am quite familiar with ....,I will also send the info to the media outlets in T&T newspapers and Radio and keep the concept building up......My little band Flamingoes will most certainly have a PAN MINISTRY on their T-shirt for 2015 .....Great idea again

        • The key to the success of this project is a leader in the Mecca.

          • True, ....but we have  one and a half million people in T&T ...I hope that it does not come down to the (one in a million ) song.....I need people to respond with why this is not a good idea or why it will not work ...so that we can address the issues....all arguments will be positive even if it is against this concept...because those of us who believe in this cause must be able to answer all the questions asked about this. ...we need to answer these questions before the politicians.

  • A brother Jerry Bayne is making a powerful statement with a beautiful T shirt with a bold print of A Ministry for Pan..
    I need to get one of them Jerry.....
    Salah
    • I have contacted Jerry and will be looking to get a couple myself....just had an idea ...getting someone to sponsor these pan ministry T shirts in order to distribute them to the public in T & T
    • I will purchase a dozen,,,

  • Any idea, good or bad will die an unnatural death once the government is involved.

    Pan has to run as far as it can from the government.

    Once politicians are involved then it's nepotism, favoritism, and corruption.

    Think of any ministry, health, education, justice, sport, even the ones they invent. Do they work? No. Why? Because ministers are chosen and given their mandate by the government and headed by people who don't have a clue.

    Even if by some wishful thinking there is a ministry of pan, what will happen when the government chooses some idiot to be minister? Or decides that they will sell pan out to some of their friends, whether here or in some other country?

    What is needed is a properly run association headed by people with vision who can take pan in the right direction and make it self sustaining.

    I have been advocating for the panmen and stakeholders to form their own association to lobby the government and the private sector to support the pan 'movement' if you want to call it that.

    Why persist with Pan Trinbago if nobody is satisfied that they are doing the best for pan?

    What did the WI cricketers do when WIPA messed with them. They told WICB that they  are not represented by WIPA and walked off the job.

    PT cannot function without the panmen. Why don't  panmen from their own association and go it on their own.

    Have their own competitions, their own panorama. do their own thing.

    Form an association, vote for their own executive and run their own show.

    Forget about PT, forget about the government and forget about any Ministry of Pan.

    It's time for panmen to take their future into their own hands and forge their own way forward.

    Sorry Saleh, politics and pan don't mix well.

    • Wayne my brother, Nuff respect for your post ..but this is indeed a worthwhile topic for discussion or discourse both are good and needed because questions will be answered.

      Yes politics or politricks is a major problem the world over and one can say for the most part politicians are corrupt and self seekers ...however there are still genuine and sincere people who are into politics and are making changes and positive things do happen ..if not, no country would be in operation...politics is therefore needed in the world we live in today...but I do share your angst against most politicians.

      I beg to disagree with you however for one thing politics has been in pan from its inception ( not from a positive point of view though) ...the ostracizing of the pan, the involvement of the police and all of the colorful history of pan has a strong political influence. Likewise pan has always been in politic... ..Laventille is a good example...pan has been used by politicians.....today any head of state from what ever country that comes to Trinidad ...for sure their gift will be a pan ( president and vice president of the USA, the prime minster of Australia and Canada, the wife of the president of China  even the Pope) ...ALL Of Them got a pan compliments of the government of Trinidad and Tobago...it is all politics.... and nothing is wrong with that as a matter of fact it is a good thing that we have a unique gift of pan to give them.

      So your statement "Sorry Saleh, politics and pan don't mix well". is not actually correct,, because that was an example of a good mix by giving these pans to these heads of state.

      Wayne, Let me get straight to a point with you.   now we gave this pan to the Chinese government.

      China is a state run country ..it is all politics with China ......Today, .China is making every conceivable musical instrument you can think of ( except the pan). We have given them a gift of a pan...let us assume that China will eventually get into pan manufacture ( very easy for them ..offer 1 million TT dollars each to 10 pan tuners from Trinidad to go to China for a year to teach them  to make pan and believe me  it will all be over, because they will not only learn but will mass produce them,  this is a fact...they have got the money, people , ingenuity and political will to do it) (Lets hope that the Chinese government is not tuned in to WST and reading this post)... but that is exactly my point with China ...who is to say that they are not looking at this while we are having this discussion.

       

      About having an association ( or a good one to do this) sorry that has been tried and as you well know that cannot carry and do the job.... ( Did you read my entire post with the questions I raised about what constitutes a Ministry?) if not please go back and read ALL of it..

      No organization can do the type of job that a ministry will be able to do... for one thing the organization or association will have to go to some ministry to get funding and therein lies the problem.. With a Pan Ministry there will be an annual budget for this ministry like any other ministry ( if the T&T budget is 66 billion dollars annually ...what do you estimate the budget will be for the pan ministry?) .....this my friend is what is needed an entity with its own budget.

      Forget about the business sector ...they have had 7 decades to do something for pan and they are not interested besides,  they will not invest in pan as  a ministry dedicated and designed  for this purpose...it is too risky for them.

      Pan has outgrown culture ( don't misunderstand this ...it will always be a cultural instrument to us because it is our culture... but will it be a cultural instrument to say China ...the answer is no it will simply be a beautiful musical instrument and big business.

      I am going to let you respond to my response as this is a POSITIVE DIALOGUE that we are having for pan

      Wayne ...the good thing right now is that the politicians are not thinking about this... but we are, that is why we  are having this discussion or discourse ( both are good and necessary) ...We the ordinary pan people are starting this grassroots movement for a ministry for pan in T&T ...we can now set the agenda..it is why we need this dialogue in order to answer all the questions and I am sure that what I cannot answer ( because I do not have all the answers) someone else on this forum will be able to ...my friend the ball is in our court let us do this ...let us have a healthy debate ...a debate that the politicians will eventually have to adopt... eventually either the government or the opposition will get involved ...this topic is not going away... I for one ...I am committed to full research on this topic as I am doing this in my PHD studies at the moment and I will be going to Trinidad and Ido intend interviewing politicians from both sides of the fence.

      I look forward to your response ....all for pan and pan for all.

      Respect 

      Salah

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