By SEAN DOUGLAS Wednesday, August 17 2016 Trinidad & Tobago Newsday
SEVERAL sad youngsters shed tears as birdsong Steel Orchestra awaited the arrival of a court marshal on Monday for eviction from the Tunapuna site on St Vincent Street that it has occupied for the past 28 years.
While the orchestra and its academy each year train 260 youngsters in steelband, wind instruments and drums, their future is now uncertain.
Band Vice-Chairman Dennis Phillip told Newsday the band had agreed to a proposed rent hike from $2,000 to $15,000 a month, but that the landlord had then instead sought possession of the property in the courts.
Phillip said this is an inconvenience to the band which was seeking a one-year extension, so as to take ownership of its own site lower down the road.
Up to 5 pm, no marshal had appeared.
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