On Feb 3rd, I actually attended my first general meeting of Pan Trinbago as a representative of Flamingoes Steelband. I went for a few reasons amongst which was to enquire and explain if necessary the merits of the Petition that the World Pan community started on this Forum. Incidentally we are now up to 400 signatures and we are hoping that it will climb much higher. Mr. Gregory Lindsay had mentioned the main topics on his previous post.... I definitely needed some answers to report back to this WST forum. A couple of days before the meeting I had spoken with Mr. Byron Serrette (VP of Pan Trinbago) about formulating a strategy for the presentation of this Petition to the government. He did mention that Pan Trinbago's executives were meeting with the Arts & Cultural Minister the day before the General meeting. So it then would be a wise decision to wait on the outcome of that meeting with the Arts & Cultural Minister. In a nut shell if the Arts & Cultural Minister would have reversed his Policy then their would be no more need for the Petition since it was designed for that same purpose of getting the Government to reverse its Policy concerning the reduction of the players stipend by $200.TT
The VP Mr. Serrette chaired the meeting and presented several topics including information from the meeting with the Arts & Cultural Minister amongst them were the $2million first prize, some possibility for Pan Trinbago to have more financial benefits for the Panorama events. Cutting the chase. I wanted to know whether the government was reversing its bad policy and giving back to the ordinary players its money that was presumed taken away for the 2011 season. We were informed by the VP that the Gypsy said the he could not go back to Cabinet to ask them to reverse this bad policy and instead Pan Trinbago will make up the $200 TT from their coffers. Because they will be given some means to be able to make more money for the carnival season. My take on this is quite simple ...First of all I am pleased that the ordinary player will be getting the $1000....However I am disappointed that this Money has to come from the Pan Trinbago coffers.. I really feel that the Arts & Cultural Minister should have been told that he was the one who went to the Cabinet in the first place and that he indeed had to go back to rectify the situation. So in my opinion the Petition is the way to forcefully tell the government that this policy of reducing the money for the players is terribly wrong and not acceptable. It is not just about the $200 reduction but the Principle behind this. We must make that stand now because they the government was wrong. Remember the money was already approved by Cabinet. So the arts & cultural Minister caused this embarrassment on him and should have been directly told that we are not accepting that policy.
What can be done now? ……I would suggest that Pan Trinbago first of all strongly use their influence to gather the thousands of signatures for the Petition from all the registered bands and call on the public for their support, secondly call a major Media & Press conference demanding a direct meeting with the Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago indicating to the Media & Press that after seven months in governance that it was unprecedented that the Prime Minister had not yet met with the executives of Pan Trinbago. If Pan Trinbago is a legal entity enacted by an act of Parliament of T&T then it is within its rights to demand such an urgent meeting. The meeting has to be in this Panorama season where the organization like any other business has a strong playing hand (namely it can STOP THE PANORAMA). To do this after the season is futile. At this direct meeting with the Prime Minister all of the present demands of the Pan community should be placed on the table and the Petition presented to her.
Pan Trinbago,… you use the title ‘The world’s governing Body for the Steelpan’ well the world is supporting you on this issue ..Please stand up and listen to the World’s Pan Community and demand this meeting …this is a good time and opportunity for you …Use it wisely it comes around rarely. I am placing a quote from Michael L. Joseph on a previous post.
‘The executive of Pan Trinbago must stand up and be as strong as the rock of ages, in the fight for the rights and benefits of the players of the instrument. This is what the pioneers, the founding fathers of the Steel bands did, so that we are at this point today. Had they left it up to the politicians of the day to dictate the pace for us, there would have been no Steel pan instrument today. Remember, politicians come and politicians go but PAN TRINBAGO must live on forever’
To the rest of the WST membership …surely you can do better with the amount of signatures on line …..Do Something for Pan …something more than ole talk on the Forum …go and sign the petition
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/nationals-and-steelpanlovers
Regards
Salah
Replies
To Audrey Sue Wing - Without prejudice also
You have just jumped into the pot ...I suggest you go back to some of the former post here on this forum .. there were many and the math was thoroughly explained by many intelligent persons on this forum ...so please go back and get it straight ..you do have it a bit mixed up. Secondly I am a Steelpan Activist I do not need permission to speak what is on my mind. I am not speaking on behalf of the world's Pan community I am stating some facts that many of the world's Pan community agrees on as expresed on this Forum. some are like you who may not agree with me..quite frankly it does not matter to me ....that is your perogative and I respect you for that. I cannot stop you for saying what you say but also know that the same applies for me. You or anyone else cannot stop me or anyone else from saying what they feel.
Thirdly if you are from T&T where were you during the last election ...you seem to be un aware of the election promises made by the now Prime Minister. I was in T&T and heard that speech where she promised the $2miilion for the winnig band. you need to go back in the T&T newspaper achives.
Also you need to re-read the Petition because the focus was indeed about the the ordinary Pan Player and the bad policy of the government of taking away $200 from the $1000 that they were previously given...please get your information correct.
the Petition is already on the way with hundreds of signatures on line and now into the local bands of T&T and hopefully reaching out to the general pulic.
I have a suggestion for ...why don't you start your own petition with what you beleive should be done ( I am not being sarcastic) if you are doing something for Pan ...I will certainly sign it.
in the meantime did you sign the Petition...if you did not here is the link
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/nationals-and-steelpanlovers
choose to be on the right side of History
Regards
Salah
No Salah I did not jump in; I was born into this pot and over time I have grown to recognize that those who agree with you are not necessarily your friends and those who disagree may not be your enemies.
One of the wonderful things about us Trinbagonians is our diversity; we all want the same things, more or less, yet each of us goes about it differently. You call yourself an activist; I refer to myself as an advocate. If I think a 'petition' is appropriate for the task at hand I will start one; however it's the logic of the argument that determines its validity, not the 'petition' per se.
I signed the 'petition' and have read the many submissions on WST, which themselves reveal several issues still to be resolved but I trust the outcome of this one will be a return to the BG performance fee of $1,000 TT. (BG = Before Gypsy). Best wishes, keep doing for Pan. ASW.
PS: "...a representative of Flamingoes Steelband" Would that band be an offspring of "Gay Flamingoes" originally from up St John Road, St Augustine,now somewhere out in Vancouver, Canada?
I hear you loud & Clear Audley and thanks for signing the petition ...there are many more battles to be fought..this is only one of them and at least there is some unity amongst all of us who have signed ...we hope that it will work for the people who needs it the most. It already has repercussions because the $200 will be replaced by Pan Trinbago as declared in a meeting of Pan Trinbago that I attended. However it is not only the money but the principle behind it also . This was a bad policy by the Goverment of T&T and they are the ones who have to replace the $200. this is why the petition continues and the signatures are adding up. What is also eminent is a meeting of the Prime Minister and the organization Pan Trinbago it is why we are first calling on Pan Trinbago to push the buttons by promoting the Petition at all of the upcoming panorama Preliminaries for the General public to be involved and also for Pan Trinbago to call a media & press conference regarding the direct meeting with Prime Minister where they can state their issues including that of the Arts & multicultralism Minister and the presentation of the Petition. Again we are only stating what is logic and practical and having a say.... Pan Trinbago will do what they want...whether they are reading these comments or not. We cannot make them do anything but we certainly can state our case and we intend to continue doing just that. I appreciate independent thinkers they do not have to agree with me but it is what is needed to push issues and expore them further. The Petition on line is now up to 427 and by some WST analysts it is a significant amount for this cause..we are hoping that more WST members will come up on this side of the history.
Concerning the band Flamingoes ...yes it is the original band .. the 'Gay' had to be droped because it had a different meaning in the heyday of the original band.(LOL). The band Exodus came out of 'Gay' Flamingoes so it has its history. Many of the original members had migrated but the band Flamingoes continued as a shell of its former self but it is now going through a renaissance period and we are trying to do Community Devlopment with the band in the village ..at least it still has a community and a village interested it its re-development.It is a worthy cause. It is my original band,.... as an 'activist' I have to do more than talk so I am putting in my two bits. Hope the band goes forward in the upcoming Preliminaries . Any 'foreigners' coming in ,last minute' and are skilled enough to participate is welcomed.
Regards
Salah
To Salah Wilson ...without prejudice
With regard to the 'petition', is Mr Wilson authorized to speak on behalf of the Steelpan Community of the world? Concerning the basis for the petition, one could ask - Was there an election promise to offer a $2 million TT prize to the winning Panorama band? When, where, by whom and to who was this "election promise" made? Also relevant is, was this "election promise" was ever brought to the T&T Government Cabinet for ratification? We are all familiar with 'election' and 'other' promises.
According to the 'petition' the Cabinet recently voted to reduce the preliminary Panorama pan player's fee of $1,000.00 TT by 20%, cutting it to $800.00. These poor players will each get one fifth less money this year. Mr. Wilson multiplied this $200.00 shortfall by 10,000 pan players and got a million dollars and saw a Government conspiracy. 10,000 is a suspiciously round figure that conveniently produces the so called 'math'. Did Pan Trinbago supply this figure to Mr. Wilson? Where did it come from? I suspect there are even more than 10,000 'players' supporting this annual competitive musical battle that is the last remaining vestige of our historic Camboulay ritual.
We should not be asked to compare the loss of individual pannists' remuneration fees at the preliminary Panorama level to a 100% increase in first prize money for the one winning Panorama band. These are two completely different things: one is a loss to several individual players while the other is a gain to the winning band. As many of the competing bands are sponsored one would think a smart Government would have chosen to 'sponsor' the individual pan player rather than cut his stipend, after all each player has a vote.
I have no problem with increased prize money for Steelbands but I think this 'petition' should have focused more closely on the plight of the individual pannists who together with family and friends make unrecognized sacrifices to help produce the musical tidal wave that will swell to tsunami proportions over the next few weeks, when steel talks elegantly through music, in the finale of Panorama 2011.
Audley Sue Wing - T&T
WHAT?
the focus of the petition IS "the plight of the individual pannists who together with family and friends make unrecognized sacrifices to produce the musical tidal wave"that is, in fact, the petition's ENTIRE purpose.
did you read it?
The World's Pan Community is calling on Pan Trinbago to do a few things for Pan.
1.To get all member bands from all regions to sign the petition and hand it in ASAP
2. To use the opportunity of the upcoming Small & Medium bands preliminary competition to promote the Petition to the general public by having signature forms available for the public to sign when they enter the site for the compettion.
3. To immediately ( after the small and medium band Prelims) hold a Media & Press conference to initiate the call for a direct meeting with the Prime Minister of the country where Steelpan issues can be dealt wth and the Petition handed in.
4. To use the leverage of the Panorama season to achieve the goals underlining the fact that the Finals could be in jeopardy, (Since the Prime Minister herself wants to hand out the $2 million cheque to the winning band)
The time to act is now while the season is hot. If Pan Trinbago were to take such a stand and act now ...not only would the goals be attained but that they would also win hearts and minds of the Local & World Pan Community and the song would change to
''We're Doing Something For Pan"
Salah
(Steelpan Activist)
Greetings,
As a steelband manager, I am calling on all of my fellow band managerial colleagues in the Panorama competition on the WST network to;
A goal without a timeline is just dreaming......Please be on the right side of history.......If you do anything at all on this issue, please do that for pan. As always, many thanks in advance for your cooperation in this important effort.
Gregory Lindsay
Manager - Power Stars Steel Orchestra
Greetings to all members of this forum,..PanTrinbago officers and band managers included
I will be brief and to the point. Firstly, I completely concur with Salah Wilson's viewpoint. Some of the other viewpoints contributed border on lack of substance to luke warm support at best......The united struggle shall continue, as all viewpoints divergent and otherwise are important.However, simply put, a new value proposition is needed.
The short-term view of strategy is the long term view of tactics and right now, based on what has already been carefully articulated by myself and others, in the 'new' killing fields environment, PanTrinbago executives are swimming in a tank filled with government sharks. The organization must now shift into an immediate tactical mode, in order to continue swimming without being eaten alive. PanTrinbago must now outsell the new value proposition, outmanage Mr Peters, outmotivate the national community and outnegotiate the current position held by the Prime Minister and her Cabinet decision.
The longer the Prime Minister keeps PanTrinbago waiting, the more that Mr. Peters is going to want to keep dealing. The single most powerful tool for PanTrinbago winning this negotiation is the ability to walk away from the table without making any deal with the Culture Minister. Mr. Diaz, Mr. Serrette, Mr. Forteau..smile and say no to Mr. Peters until your tongues bleed. Heed the movement words and do something for pan.
This is the tactic to be employed diplomacy included........PanTrinbago........unless the central executive is granted an audience with the Honorable Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar concerning the urgent current state of affairs regarding the pan movement, before the end of the prelimenary round of single pan and conventional bands...........THEN STAND UP AND STOP THE PANORAMA COMPETITION.
Put in place at all competition venues until then mechanisms to capture the signatures required for the petition from players, members and patrons. And finally, with this tactic, shift the platform of the prize money structure to the other BOMB and other road competitions on Jouvert, Carnival Monday & Tuesday.
After Carnival Tuesday and Auntie Irene gone home, the time will be too late. The Time is Now. Utilize your celestial capital, capture the moment and seize the day! Do Something for Pan. Praying for all and as always hoping for the best.
Keep Loving Up the Pan!
Thank you Glenroy and Dika for your survey analysis...it is encouraging
Salah
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